Italian punk-blues one-woman-band ELLI DE MON heralds her new album with a video which she's premiering exclusively with Vive Le Rock!
The brooding, slow-building 'Blue Spirit Blues' is her interpretation of a song by blues legend Bessie Smith and is taken from the album Countin' The Blues.
Comprising songs from the repertoires of Smith, Ma Rainey, Memphis Minnie, Elizabeth Cotten and others, the album can be seen as a soundtrack to Elli's book Countin' The Blues - Indomitable Women, a celebration of the blues queens of the 20s, published last year.
Speaking about the song, Elli says, "Sometimes you forget about them. They live hidden in dark places and they move very silently. But you can feel them and you can’t escape... and they get to hurt you so deeply. The BLUE DEVILS. Well, you can recognize them and this is the first step to get free. Bessie Smith knew it and she burnt her demons out. This is her song and I tried to make it mine."
Hailing from the historic city of Vicenza and firmly established on the European garage-blues scene, Elli has shared stages with the likes of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Cedric Burnside and Voodoo Rhythm Records boss, The Reverend Beat-Man. Releasing albums since 2014, her last album was a split release with brilliantly-named psych-blues exponents Daily Thompson.
Recorded live at Sonika in Ferrara, the video was shot by noted filmmaker Ares Brunelli.
Set for release on 18 June through Area Pirata Records, Countin' The Blues is available to pre-order here.
Pic by S Carollo