Wide-eyed and dreamy

Eleni Mandell brings optimism to the sultry, lulling songs on 'Miracle of Five'

On her new record, Eleni Mandell offers up a kind of modern cowgirl blues slowed to a languid pace.

By Marc Hirsh, Globe Correspondent | June 2, 2007

Read up on the press for Eleni Mandell and a few words tend to pop up repeatedly. Words like "dusky." "Sepia-toned." "Noirish." "Hazy." "David Lynch." But though they're in the right ballpark, such descriptors imply a degree of menace absent in the Los Angeles-based singer's material. The wide-eyed optimism that takes its place hasn't been lost on those close to Mandell.
"My grandmother always says, 'You're such a dreamer, just like your grandfather.' Which isn't a compliment for her," Mandell says with a laugh. "She's a very practical woman. But I think I do write from the perspective of someone who's a dreamer, and sometimes it gets me into trouble, because I have a very active imagination."
That imagination, and the trouble to which it leads, can be heard all over the lovely "Miracle of Five," Mandell's sixth album. Like Sam Phillips without the world-weariness or Shivaree minus the sinister edge, Mandell (who plays the Middle East on Tuesday) offers up a kind of modern cowgirl blues slowed to a languid pace.
With half the songs on "Miracle" mentioning sleeping, dreaming, or waking, it's no surprise to see another group of adjectives applied regularly to Mandell: "smoldering," "sultry," "lulling," "somnolent." But even though her songs are so specifically evocative, she's still tough to categorize.
"I guess I fall into the singer-songwriter category," Mandell says. "But then I'll hear other artists that are considered singer-songwriters and I think, 'I want nothing to do with that category.' So I'm not really sure. . . . I don't know why one person hears country and one person hears jazz and everybody misses my punk rock side."
Punk was, in fact, what drove Mandell to become a songwriter and performer in the first place. She started playing violin at 5 years old, growing up on everything from Rodgers and Hart to Tom Waits to the Beach Boys. But it was another legendary LA band that led to an epiphany. "It was really later , when I discovered punk rock, when I heard X play," she says, "that I thought, 'Oh, that looks like a lot of fun. I want to be a part of that.' "
But despite Circle Jerks drummer Kevin Fitzgerald's long - standing spot in Mandell's backing band and earlier rave - ups like "Easy on Your Way Out" (from 2004's excellent "Afternoon"), "Miracle" seems about as far from punk rock as a record can be. Where previous albums drew from a wider palette, "Miracle" benefits from a more consistent tone throughout. Mandell credits producer Andy Kaulkin for discovering the sound of the record midway through recording.
"I went away on tour, and when I came back he said, 'We've gotta start over,' " Mandell says. "I was definitely disappointed and frustrated, but I also was at a point in my life where I wanted to hand the controls over to somebody else. And I really trusted him and really liked him and really felt like he had great ideas, so I decided to try being patient. And it was definitely difficult but, I think, worth it."
Kaulkin recorded Mandell's voice and guitar alone, adding the band (which included Wilco guitarist Nels Cline and X's D.J. Bonebrake on vibes) afterward . It was a change from her usual method, but bass player Ryan Feves recognized the logic in it.
"I think she basically just has a real straightforward approach," Feves says, "getting up in the morning, sitting down, picking up the guitar, and writing songs and playing. So for her to be able to perform the songs like that, I think you get a better, more intimate performance than if she had to play with her band live in the studio, which is what we did on 'Afternoon.' He adds, "This gave her the ability to sit back, relax, and take the time."
It paid off, with "Miracle" becoming the best-selling album of her career and earning raves in publications such as Entertainment Weekly, Bust, and Los Angeles magazine. Considering the visual terms often used to discuss her music, it's not surprising that television shows like "Brothers and Sisters" and "Men in Trees" have made use of her evocative songs.
But for the least dusky, somnolent, and Lynchian moment of her career, look no further than her 2005 ad for West Coast burger chain Carl's Jr. The clip, featuring a wet and soapy Paris Hilton writhing on a car while Mandell sings "I love Paris in the springtime" in a jazzy alto, met with controversy over whether it was too racy for the airwaves. "The first time I saw it was like, 'Whoa. That's pretty intense. But she's wearing a bathing suit,' " Mandell says. "And it's such a cliche sort of sexual innuendo. You know, washing a car or [waving] a hose. It just seems really silly.
"You know what? In the end, my grandmother was really proud of me. She thought I'd finally arrived, that this was an example of true success."
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