Maxine Davies discovers the magical debut album by the Newcastle songstress
Released: 01.04.16
Made possible by a successful crowdfunding campaign, Newcastle-based Ditte Elly’s debut album has been four years in the making.
Concealed beneath its modest, unembellished title, the nine tracks that make up Songs are beautifully intricate, finger-picked gems, as delicate as spun sugar but nonetheless pensive and powerful in equal measure.
Elly’s rich, honey-toned vocals are at once haunting and ethereal; poetic, folk-inspired lyrics punctuated by skin tingling harmonies which warrant comparison with Joanna Newsom. The stand out track of the album, Right Out Of Time, begins with the fragile melodies of birdsong, and unfolds like origami to reveal gently undulating fragments which flow seamlessly, the auditory equivalent of golden sunlight glistening through emerald leaves.
Songs is more than a little magical.