Elenne May in-home show. Haarlem, Sunday 12 March 2017

In-home shows are intimate. Just a limited number of people get to see the show very much up close. For artist and audience. For both there's no hiding in this setting. The music of Elenne May, which has been reported on regularly on this blog since the winter of 2016, lends itself very well for an intimate show like this.

It was somewhat strange to see the poster Elenne May had posted online announcing the winter in-home tour of Elenne May and to know that the last show announced as a private show would take place in our own home. With circa 20 friends we were in the presence of grace and beauty played by four aspiring artists.

12 March was the first real spring day of 2017. The band arrived in full sunshine and after the soundcheck mixed with the audience in the garden. All enjoying the sun and drinks. Band and friends from different friendships mixing and socialising.

Come showtime Elenne May played songs from its two albums, 'Misleadingly Soft' (2012) and 'Veggie Patch In The Desert' (2016). There is no way that I can do more right to the beauty of this band's songs than I already have in my reviews of the three EPs that were released in 2016 and make up the cd 'Veggie Patch In The Desert'. I'll just quote myself, as I'm quoted on Elenne May's Bandcamp page. These words say it all:

"This is a band for people who like to listen to music, truly listen. The music is beautifully layered, breathes space as well as atmosphere, with enough left to discover. The slightly mysterious voice of singer Elenne is soft, broken and hinting at unknown things, perhaps even the mystery beyond what we can hear."

Behind Elenne Roeland, Eveline and Eddie create beautiful soundscapes, atmospherics and melodies. Together they make up the songs that make Elenne May unique.

I stood mesmerised for the two sets the band played and watched the faces of the people in the audience and saw many faces that were caught by the same magic that caught me over a year ago. At the same time I saw the pleasure of the musicians while playing their music, of singing together. The subtleties in the music, how the space and time within the songs are created by pulling back in sound or push the peddle in at the right moment. How much Eddie is able to do with a bare minimum of what can be called a drum kit. This was a super special event that I'm very glad to have been able to host. For an audience it is not possible to be closer to a band and to its music than in an intimate setting like this. The music is nearly personalised and made exclusively for those present.

Elenne May is a very talented band that I put on the same level as singer-songwriters like Sophie Hunger, Christine Owman and Agnes Obel, to name three. Perhaps it's no coincidence that all are from a Germanic language speaking country? All four join quality of compositions with space and atmosphere in special ways and mix pop with a range of influences from more serious sorts of music ranging from singer-songwriter to classic. It's time for more people to take notice of Elenne May. You can even invite them to come and play at your home, before it's too late and they have been noticed.

(All photo's by) Wo.

You can listen to and buy the music of Elenne May here:

https://elennemay.bandcamp.com