Eliza Newman
Icelandic singer/songwriter Eliza Newman is preparing to release her second solo album Pie in the Sky on the 4th April 2011.
The album, already a huge hit in Iceland, was recorded and mixed in London and Iceland with producer Gisli Kristjánsson and contains 10 original songs, including the number one hits Ukulele Song For You and Hopeless Case.
Ukulele Song For You topped the Icelandic National radio chart in 2009 and went on to become one of the most popular songs of the year in Iceland.
This album also contains a further four top ten singles for Eliza and critics in Iceland called it one of the albums of the year.
Thankfully Eliza is now bringing her upbeat brand of melodic folk-pop to the UK with the release of Pie in Sky.
Far from being as throw-away as the ‘folk-pop’ tag suggests, Eliza’s songwriting on this album is heartfelt and personal, whilst also being uplifting and powerful.
The quality of the writing is ably assisted by Eliza’s mesmerizing voice that recalls many of the best female artists of the past two decades, from Nico to Debbie Harry to Kate Bush.
This is a talent that hasn’t just materialized from nowhere. Eliza has been honing her craft over a musical journey that has spanned the past 15 years and has seen her fronting three acclaimed bands.
She is perhaps best known as former lead singer of Icelandic rock band Bellatrix, who released albums on Bjork’s Bad Taste label, and whilst signed to Fierce Panda co-headlined a tour with a little old band called Coldplay.
After spending years fronting bands, Eliza - a trained opera singer and versatile musician who plays violin, guitar, ukulele and piano - decided it was time to go solo.
Her first album, the critically acclaimed Empire Fall (2007) was written and arranged solely by Eliza and she hasn’t looked back since then, playing sell out shows in London and Reykjavik and receiving many warm words of praise from the press.
Now for her second album, Pie in the Sky, we have another fine collection of tracks that are surely poised to make up an integral part of the soundtrack to 2011.
In an early indication of this, her tribute to the infamous Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull (from a recent EP and 11th track on online version of album) has already appeared on the The Word magazine’s February issue covermount CD .