Eliza, formerly known as Eliza Doolittle has done a lot. She’s been signed since 2008 but has been performing for ever by the looks of it. It seems inevitable that this would be the case. Her mum is a Tony Award winning Musical Theatre performer and represented the UK in 1994 Eurovision Contest. Eliza is also the Grand Daughter of Sylvia Young of the eponymous Theatre School.
So she’s been on a journey – The Darkening Green is her 5th Studio Album across her two identities, the ‘Doolittle’ was shed back in 2017 where it looks like she adopted a more mature approach. My history with her is non existent. The algorithms were insistent that I listen to the Single ‘Cheddar’ in February and as usual, the algo was right, I loved it, nearly chose it as my Spin It track last month, did chose it in my 4 track shortlist. So when the album dropped on 6th March I was straight in.
The album is short, it is only 9 tracks and 35 minutes long. This goes against the recent trend of what I often feel are bloated albums with poor decision making on what should and shouldn’t be included. I am very happy about this. At this point in the year, in my current mood, I want a short, tight and direct album and this is exactly what we’ve been given.
Thematically the album is about love, relationships, the pressure of modern life, nature, city life and the connections between these. However, the songs manage to blend these themes into one, feeling or mood regardless of the specific theme. The album was finished a week or so before Eliza became a mother. I think I can hear the calm contemplation of impending parenthood? In interviews she talks about flowers being strong enough to push up between concrete, a visual that is captured on the cover, this feels like over arching theme.
Read an interview with Eliza talking about the album here.
Genre-wise … what is this? Let’s do a quick genre-roll-call; R&B / Alt-R&B / Soul / Pop / Sophisti-Pop / Neo Soul / Indie-Soul / Chamber-Soul is a new one that I came across when researching this /
I have looked into critics (and this album has not been widely reviewed) and listeners reviews to look at how they describe this and there is very little consistency. I am tempted to return to my on running joke sub-genre title ‘Soul Driven Sophisti-Pop’ … cause that’s exactly what it is. We can call it Soul. I’m happy with R&B but that has become close to meaningless. What ever we call it, I do think there is something particularly British about this album? I am not sure I can imagine an American Artist creating this? As we discussed last month, Neo-Soul in my mind at least, is an American genre and of a specific time (late 90’s / early 00’s). I can’t think of any any British artists that I would describe as Neo-Soul but this album has been described as Neo Soul. Go figure.
Stylistically speaking, it’s very tightly produced, razor sharp, crisp, clean and bone dry! There is nothing remotely moist about any track on this album. It’s relatively sparsely instrumented soul music. There is a lot of space, bone-dry-air in the production. This type of production can sound clinical and lacking emotion and I would understand someone who didn’t like this using that kind of language. There is a degree of separation of presentation that is undeniable but there is a lot of vocal warmth even when singing some of the most withering lyrics.
The album feels very coherent, a collection of tracks written, rehearsed and recorded as one. I am not sure if this is the case? But it feels like that. It feels like it captures a feeling of a certain time and mood. There are 2 producers but the end product is beautifully consistent. There are deep grooves (Cheddar), funky up tempo tracks (Pleasure Boy) and slower jams (Major) but they all feel like the blend and weave together into a coherent sound.
There are moments when these tracks sound like Prince, on Spiral there is a definite sound of Billie Eilish, there’s 80’s soul pop moments that remind me of many artists, on some tracks I hear guitars played in a similar manner to Nilifur Yanya (Because We Can). I am sure you can all name numerous other artists that you hear? However, I think she never sounds like any other single artist though, she’s distilled the last 40 years of Soulful R&B pop into 35 mins which is pretty impressive.
The bass guitar does a lot of work on this album, as does the rim shot! The percussion is sparse, but perfectly so. Is there a single cymbal other than a hit hat very low in the mix? We’ve commented recently on guitar focused R&B albums and this is another one. Given the sparsity of the instrumentation there is a fair amount of complexity in the guitar parts which feels quite focused (again a nod or similarity to Nilifur?
I am loving the simplicity and quality of this album. It is what I want at the moment. Will it work for your guys?
thisisnothappening.net 
Really interesting pick Joey. I will admit one first reveal: I didn’t know this was Eliza Doolittle, and I’m glad for it. I was tangentially aware of her music in the past and it was not for me. It’s perhaps a generational thing, but it was quite twee, 60s-influenced pop that didn’t ever sit in my wheelhouse, so having read this in your blog and some press it put a really different slant on things. Any artist that’s switched their style or pivoted – especially given a career that started so early – is an interesting thing to consider.
So I came into this with absolutely no real background (consciously). And I think quite often that’s the best thing. You can approach the music without any real angle other than your impressions. And it was hard not to enjoy from first listen. I got a bit of a rush of 00s nostalgia, with that era of UK-based r’n’b pop, the All Saints era of young, sexy, independent female artists who, while perhaps jumping on the US bandwagon, also developed their own angle on the sound. I’m certainly more likely to admit I enjoy that genre than I’d have done at the time!
There’s the motifs that mark it out as more r’n’b (whatever that means) than soul to me, I guess: the minor key melodies, sparse arrangements, the breathy vocals, dual-tracked an octave apart (oh the JOY!), guitar licks and rubbery bass, but this is far more organic than some of the more computer-assembled records of the time, and better for it. That’s not to say it’s totally ‘live’ but it has that feel. Songs like Cheddar and For The Hell Of It feel like they’re transported from a west-London recording studio. And can I give a special shout out to the wonky, pitch-shifted synth/conga on Pleasure Boy? I’ve no idea what it is but I love it. It adds a layer to the straight-up arrangements. But the centre stage is the rim shot, no doubt.
It’s interesting that I assumed she was a twenty-something too, rather than the mid-30s new mother (we’ll come back to that). It does feel quite ‘young’ with all the tales of romance, sex, relationships and connection told unsparingly and honestly, but again, perhaps that’s just because I’m fifty-one. Ouch. But while the album is written crisply and brightly, (no soft focus here, no sir) and the lyrics are far from boilerplate, with a nice touch of sass and wit, I find myself coming back for the vibe much more than anything else. As ever, it’s going to be the staying power of this all that’s going to be the kicker, both in a few weeks and a few months.
I’m with you on the Billie energy, in Spiral and elsewhere, but that track really harks back to those intricate 90/00s US tracks, without sounding like a tribute. You can hear her influences from the article you posted swimming around too, which is nice timing from the neo-soul deep dive. The keyboards in closer Zombie-like also do something special.
I am happy to have this album in my life, that’s for sure.
What a cracking wee album this is. Have been really enjoying it being in my life these last few weeks. It manages to pull off that very tricky feat of being both sophisticated (sophisti-pop) while being a really engaging, rich listen. It’s never bland and it’s never safe, even if it’s made with care and subtlety.
I knew of Eliza when she was still a Doolittle and I’d rather dismissed as another Brit school graduate, and there was definitely something twee about her earlier output. It’s a genuine shock to find out that she now sounds so accomplished and full of style.
It’s interesting reading the interview with her and seeing how much R&B like D’Angelo and Aaliyah plays a part in her taste, because I think that although this is a sophisti-pop album, it has the bones of R&B within it – that stripped back groove, the prominence of the bass (and yes, the rim shot). I LOVE the way the vocals sit in the mix, surprisingly low at times. It reminded me -and here’s a left field reference – of Wendy & Lisa’s solo work away from Prince and the Revolution, of which I was a huge fan back in the day. Classy and sometimes sexy, but built on the subtle, driving groove.
I’m surprise how little attention this album is getting, but it’s a sign of the increasingly fractured way we listen to music that it’s becoming impossible to understand why some things break out and some don’t. The sad truth is that she’s ploughing her own furrow having walked away from the major labels, so she won’t be getting that push from the A&R machine. What a shame. I’ve never heard this on 6Music or NTS or FIP, all stations I’d have expected to hear her. The obvious other comparison would be Jessie Ware – who is absolutely huge, so who can say why she’s broken out and Eliza hasn’t in the same way.
Anyway, it’s been such a pleasure to enjoy this album, and I have to say, if it sticks around in my ears, it could even be a contender for the top 10 come the end of year. Cheers Joey!
All my days, the relief that I had when I finally read Joey’s write up I already liked this album. In full transparency I didn’t get along with Eliza Doolittle at all. Brit School, major label influence or what ever it was, her album wasn’t for me. This album is.
Within my notes I have highlighted that the album sounds like something you would hear in a really cool clothing shop in the naughtiest…. or so I would imagine. It has a 00’s cool about it (ironically Eliza Doolittle didn’t IMO). Maybe it’s because we talked about neo soul last month, but this has a lot of markers throughout that shout neo soul.
The whole album flows effortlessly. This for me is ace, but also a problem. It’s not sunk in at all in regards to the lyrics. Not the end of the world. I’ve listened to the album a lot but am none the wiser.
One track that has fully got me is Zombie like. Every time it comes on it catches me. It’s cool as F!CK!