Believe me when I say this, the more you play “Smoke and Mirrors” by Elline, the more it gets under your skin. Luscious, smooth and beautiful, this is not simply pop music. This is designer crafted pop art, blended with a generous sprinkling of electronic and R&B influences. The smoky, heavenly, sexy, and at the same time fruity and sparkling vocals, on top of a synth groove that keeps going with just the right touch of raw rhythm and lounge sophistication, makes this an all-round excellent production.
Never over-melodramatic nor monotonous, Elline stays captivating and highly addictive throughout the track. Psychological and physical love, and lust, travels with us most of our days. Sometimes we don’t quite grasp its meaning, at other times we completely misunderstand its signals. “Smoke and Mirrors” shimmers through these complexities, and Elline’s vocals treat the subject with both tantalizing and sublime delicacy.
She really is unique, and personally, I feel as if her individuality is what gives the track its strength. The music and lyrics are not diluted with excessive fluff either, delivering a fully-layered but clean-as-a-whistle arrangement. There are moments in this track that take me back to the 80’s sophisti-pop group Swing Out Sister who had the same knack of sounding super suave and classy, in everything they did, regardless of rhythms or tempos. This was due to the variety of horn and string instruments blending with the vocals nicely, complementing instead of competing within the arrangement. Elline and her production team spin that same kind of magic on this track.
Written by Elline and produced by Sur and Felipe Mejia Saldarriaga, “Smoke and Mirrors” is the first release from this graduate of Berklee College of Music’s upcoming “Stained Glass” EP, set for release this October 7th. Start to finish, “Smoke and Mirrors” is flawless and relentlessly engaging, in a rare sophisticated manner. I’m really looking forward to the Ep release!
