EP Review: Elli Ingram – The Doghouse
2 min read
Brighton resident Elli Ingram has been wowing crowds with her incredible voice and talent for many years from talent shows and YouTube covers, to touring Europe and even having the opportunity to blow away a crowd of 10,000 at Glastonbury Festival. Miss Ingram also treated us with her highly anticipated Sober EP in July last year, but there’s more in store for us yet; there is talk of a debut album due out sometime in the coming months, In the meantime, Elli will be releasing her new EP The Doghouse on March 24th, a taste test of what to expect if you will.
The 20 year old mentioned that her style is influenced heavily by hip hop, soul and particularly by artists such as Amy Winehouse; elements that are present in the opening track and leading single, When It Was Dark. The track is driven by a deep drum beat, soul/funk inspired guitar riff and we are also treated with saxophone and an organ. Ingram’s vocal style has also been compared to Adele, a voice she also admires; the shoe does fit as they do sing in a similar manner. All Caught Up has more of a blues/soulful vibe to it, not as drum heavy as its predecessor but still a strong track.
C’Dawha stands out from the first two tracks on The Doghouse, we can definitely hear and feel Elli’s hip hop inspiration flow through this song. The strong bass beat, we also hear her sing in a completely different style and manner demonstrated earlier; we hear just how dynamic Ingram can be, she could have had a guest hip hop artist easily lay down some vocals to accompany the track, but there is no warranted reason for this as C’Dawha is strong enough with any additional fiddling. Following track Gangsta Blues brings the EP back to its blues/soul vibe, with smooth trumpets heard in the atmosphere and the keyboard delivering soulful chords; the drums aren’t as heavy in this track which tones the EP down nicely. Finally, The River is more of a jazzy serenade and is certainly a refreshing way to bring us to the end of the EP.
The Doghouse is definitely a triumph for Elli Ingram, and if it really is a premonition of what’s to be expected from her debut album, then the young talent has it made. There is without a doubt potential in her voice and songwriting capabilities, perhaps we can expect some more experimenting to go on for future releases, however each track on this EP is a standout. We can expect great things to come from Elli and we can not wait to hear more from her very soon.
