'You, the Passenger' by Ellie Gowers
Review
Out today is Ellie Gowers' much anticipated new EP called 'You, the Passenger'.
Its constituent tracks are "A Moment", "Love in a Park (on a Sunday Afternoon)", "I Can be Right for You", (all of which have already appeared in their individual right as singles), "You, the Passenger", "Testing The Water" and "Sorrow": all of these, bar the title track appeared at her February gig/work in progress showcase at Warwick Arts Centre and so her concept of this collection has clearly been in her mind all year.
Given that I've already offered my thoughts on the three singles, on this occasion I'll focus on the trio making their official recorded debut.
As noted during my appreciation of the singles, Ellie is without doubt a progressive artist whose sense of personal creative journey & self-challenge is as fierce as her commitment to her songs and their performance. This collection is a quantum leap forward (again) and admired as she is in the folk music world, the best I can say is that this multi-faceted artist has her roots in folk while other parts of her are in other places.
I predicted (and indeed hoped) back in 2021 (if not earlier) when another paradigm shift EP came out (‘Parting Breath') that Ellie would soon become a national/international rather than local phenomenon. Of course COVID19 disrupted everyone's trajectory around then and the momentum was frustratingly slowed. That Ellie put her enforced seclusion to excellent use by recording an unplanned album of Warwickshire social history (‘Dwelling by the Weir') muddied the waters still further: the situation limited her to a simpler folk style & to be honest the material demanded it, but it looked like a deliberate reversion to her earlier styles when it was really just a one off diversion.
Therefore one might say that 'You, the Passenger' is the successor to ‘Parting Breath' and I think that is a key to grasping her movement forwards.
Consequently, there is a much fuller cast of participants than on ‘Dwelling by the Weir' and this seems a good point in the review to mention them all. Ellie is responsible for all vocals and acoustic guitars, Hazel Mills plays the piano, Alex Thomas the drums, producer & engineer TJ Allen plays the electric guitars, bass guitar, Rhodes & piano, Drew Morgan created the string arrangements, Emily Dore plays the viola, Risa Michelle Sekine the violin, Lucy Samuels the 'cello and Holly Brandon, Blair Dunlop and Bella Gafney provide backing vocals. The EP was recorded at J & J Studios in Bristol and mastered by Shawn Joseph at Optimum Mastering.
With lesser talents, extra musicians might serve to dilute the passion: Ellie has the attributes which ensure that instead these collaborators amplify what she has written & help her to draw out the potential of her songs.
I'll need to repeat a comment made in an earlier review since considering the whole EP makes patterns easier to see. My point is that hitherto, Ellie's passions have pretty much been in regard of the well being of others: individually & collectively. Her consideration of her own situation (with the glaring exception of the unrecorded "For a While") has definitely taken second place.
Well she is now loving herself a little more: but don't worry, there is no selfishness on view. Her care for the world still shines through brightly.
Part of the change seems to reflect a discovery of the benefits of mindfulness: as previously noted in lead single "A Moment" and I guess "Love in a Park (on a Sunday Afternoon)" also reflects her commitment to a carpe diem state of mind. This in turn opens up space in her life amongst the caring for others & the planet for the subject matter of "I Can be Right for You".
There is a coming together of threads in "Testing the Water" (inspired by her realisation of the implications of her bathing in Atlantic waters (rather her than me) on both the Canadian & British shores: in some ways an intensely personal epiphany but at the same time characteristic Ellie in spotting links & bigger picture perspectives of the world. It's achingly beautiful and one wonders if it might be another single?
However the title track is even more of a potential release in its own right. Like "Love in a Park (on a Sunday Afternoon)", this is Ellie a long way outside the boundaries of popularly perceived folk: it's another one totally accessible to fans of folk and pop alike while actually being one of her deepest (and that's saying a lot) songs: ostensibly addressing her many recent travels (how much she is relishing her freedom after the obvious frustrations of lockdown), it also serves her other interests as a metaphor for us all being passengers on this planet.
If that track is Ellie as philosopher, then album closer "Sorrow" is her as poet. This is the most intellectually dense track on the record & I'll be honest that I'm still unpacking its layers. There really was no other place on the EP as it's impossible to follow.
It's definitely very personal and links in with her long time ornithological obsession, following singing of robins & falcons with on this occasion magpies. "There's only so much that a magpie can take" presumably has a nod towards materialism but how this fits together with reflections on the passage of time & the emotion alluded to in the title is something which only repeated plays will unlock for me: or quite possibly you. Whatever she is telling us, her delivery makes clear that it is something she believes strongly in: but that's Ellie Gowers isn't it?
'You, the Passenger' is the culmination of her work to date & so if you want to call it her masterpiece, then please do. I know however that she'll top even this with her next one.
Ellie will be playing tomorrow at The Tin as part of her national tour: I think that it's not unreasonable to anticipate many of these fine songs appearing in her setlist.
