Elaine began life living in an old watermill near Whitby in Yorkshire, with her poetic origins still influencing her songwriting and storytelling today. Songwriting has been in her soul since around the age of eight when, during piano lessons at this young stage of her career, she already saw an instrument as a vehicle to composition. Robin Harrison caught up with Elaine to find out more about her new album.
Tell me about your beginnings and how they influence your music today…
A lot of the lyrics I write are very heavily influenced by the landscape that I am in, wherever that may be. I think that lots of dance music has routes in the urban environment and a lot of folk and country comes from a more rural environment.
Tell me about your journey. 2017 seemed to be the beginning of really big success for you, getting into the top 10 of the India charts, Bob Harris playing your tracks, British Airways playing your songs globally on their playlists and more…
You have to remember to stop and smell those roses as it almost feels like you’re always heading on to the next thing. Yes, 2017 was a great year: I did a lot of touring, the songs were strong and I had a great publisher. Each record that I make seems to come with a different story and achievements.
When you hit Glastonbury and shared stages with Paolo Nutini, KT Tunstall and others, these must have been experiences that helped you gain skills and inspiration for your songwriting…
Absolutely. Performance experience is something that you gain with time. However, touring with the likes of Paolo Nutini can be the hardest types of gigs. These shows sound amazing, but people are milling in and not necessarily focused on you, so you need a lot of strength of character to go with these big shows – you need to believe in the sound that you’re making. For me, my favourite moments of live performance have actually come with the very intimate shows as much smaller capacity rooms make you feel much more connected with the audience.
Tell me about your new release, ‘Half Moon Rising’. You recorded it in California in 2023 with Mike Butler who has credits with Norah Jones, The Pretenders and more…
A lot of Mike’s history comes from mixing and engineering records and he is so multi-talented that he’s almost like a one-stop shop. He pulled in lots of musicians that he works with in San Diego and they were incredible. For example, the violinist toured with Leonard Cohen for years. These artists are almost on another level. We discussed that we wanted that old country Americano style to shine through (only texturing though, nothing over-powering). I think that this is one of the best records I have ever made. The songs are the strongest I’ve ever written, the core of the songcraft is the best that I’ve ever done, they are very honest and they gel together like a story. The inspiration for the record is very much about moving forward and new beginnings. It has a deep, uplifting kind of feeling. My previous albums were more reflective because I’m a very philosophical person.
‘Half Moon Rising’ is available to stream now on all major online streaming platforms.
