Woodes is the project of Melbourne based producer, singer and songwriter, Elle Graham and she has just released an EP – ‘Golden Hour’ – which showcases her extraordinary voice and lush, orchestral production. ‘Dots’, the most recent single off the EP, displays a vocal range with more peaks and troughs than the floor of the Pacific Ocean and an instrumentation and arrangement that is bold and cinematic:
There is almost a Celtic element – think Clannad – but this is an epic multi-layered song with tribal drumming and angelic singing and a video that captures Woodes’s unique creative persona. But above all, it is a tremendous pop song.
Opening track, ‘Hunger’ has a sparser instrumentation yet the tribal percussive elements feature. Woodes’s voice is at the fore – elements of Adele and Lorde are detectable. ‘Higher’ has a more jazzy soul-imbued style but again, Graham’s voice is extraordinary – emotive and heartfelt. Previous singles, the very cute Bjork-flavoured ‘Origami’ and ‘Run For It’ highlight Graham’s pop sensibility. Final track, ‘Still So Young’ is quite frankly gorgeous and without peer. You can listen to the EP here:
Woodes shows incredible versatility in the instrumentation and Graham’s ambitions are clear. She says “I’ve always been in orchestras, musicals and choral ensembles growing up and I have always had a love of soundtracks. I wanted to push these songs further into a cinematic realm with their arrangements and instrumentation. There are Taiko drums, clarinets, saxophones, Moog synthesizers, acoustic guitars, flutes, mallet percussion, brass, strings, field recordings of thunder, wind, swords, breaking glass and birds”.
This is a very exciting release – bold, vibrant and creative. Experimental yet accessible pop from an artist that is extraordinarily talented. You can buy the EP here.
Woodes is touring various Australian cities to promote the EP, supported in some gigs by another Backseat Mafia favourite, Eilish Gilligan:
MAR 2 FRI
Leadbelly – Sydney, Newtown, NSW, Australia
MAR 3 SAT
Woodes at The Toff – Melbourne Australia
MAR 10 SAT
Woodes at Black Bear Lodge – Brisbane
Fortitude Valley, Qld,
No Comment