Across two EPs, Londoner Elanor Moss established herself as a solid tunesmith with a strong voice that allowed her to put those songs across. Her debut full-length, freshly out via Merge Records, delivers a considerable jump in quality with a vivid dive into a folk zone that’s classically Brit, and in a manner that’s utterly unaffected. Moss brings it naturally. The Knife, The Needle is out now on vinyl (clear purple wave), compact disc, and digital.
In 2022, Elanor Moss released her first EP, “Citrus,” a 5-song effort that’s still available on 10-inch vinyl. It’s a gentle, thoroughly likable affair that fits into the indie-folk scheme, but with a few production touches (e.g., low-key electronic atmospheres and accents) that place the set pretty firmly in the 21st century. Also, a few of the songs travel to the border of singer-songwriter territory, and that’s alright.
In 2023, Moss followed up “Citrus” with a 4-song effort, “Cosmic,” which is still available on 10-inch vinyl, as well. The tracks broaden her sonic palette as the indie-folk focus is maintained. Horns have a more prominent role, and drums enter the frame for the first time. “Catholic” is an outright melodic rocker that throws back (at least) to the ’90s. It would’ve blown them away at the Lilith Fair and likely grabbed some slots in mainstream radio rotation.
As Moss has intensified the emotional weight of her songs, an increase that’s partly lyrical but also (and essential to The Knife, The Needle’s success) expressed through a blossoming vocal expressiveness that’s sweet and tender but with subtle heft, she has additionally tightened the stylistic iris onto a warmly appealing and note-perfect (yet gloriously not overworked) rendering of gal-voiced Brit folk.
It would be easy to convince a listener unfamiliar with Moss that this album is an unearthed gem sourced from master reels found in a box under some family member’s bed. Of course, the rich arrangements by Matthew Herd for strings and horns would make it seem unlikely that, if unreleased, this fictitious discovery of The Knife, The Needle would’ve just vanished into thin air.
As a contemporary reference point, think Josephine Foster, though the absence of Foster’s eccentric vocal edge is replaced with an engaging directness. Straight away in “Fixer,” the blend of plucked string (Moss playing guitar), bowed string, horns, and voice is simultaneously bold but with a lack of anything superfluous.
Once established, the record wavers little in its progression. After the songwriting standout “Sarah Waiting in the Car,” the instrumental “Improvisation” is a nice surprise, with the gorgeously folky “You Are Coming Home Tonight” arriving next. The Knife, The Needle also thrives on a perceived live-in-the-studio approach, though this quality might be crafted in production. The impression left after multiple spins is of an artist who has fully come into her own. Elanor Moss has crafted a stellar debut.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
