SINGLE REVIEW: TORIA WOOFF - EILEEN
Since first seeing Toria Wooff supporting Stephen Kellogg she's remained on the #TEAMw21music radar and she has certainly made an impression with her latest song "Eileen". Toria has a folky goth Americana vibe going on and in a world constantly busily, noisily, vying for your attention, her latest release could not be more the opposite.
The predominant sound is Toria's guitar but as the backing gradually builds, the cast of instruments includes, flugelhorn, pump organ, flute, oboe, clarinet and more!
It is also worth a quick glance at the accompanying cover picture, Toria naturally all in black, strategically placed on an old wooden chair, her heavy footwear keeping the door open. It seems to be a back door leading to a garden, and over Toria's shoulder are pictures on the wall that seem to all add together to giving the house a certain age. The picture also plays with the light, outside it is bright daylight, yet inside it appears to be quite dark, with Toria the link between the two.
It is that aforementioned acoustic guitar that opens the track before Toria opens with the words. The opening "Eileen" is stretched over many seconds, Toria sings in such hushed tones that the words seem to barely tumble out. It all goes to create a most definite atmosphere
"Eileen
The distance between
The rolling hill
And constant sea
Never felt like home when the seagulls shriek
To you, and same to me
Eileen",
The descriptive lyrics continue, and a growing sense of something eerie builds, as Toria makes the trees vividly real by anthropomorphising them
"When trouble wins
The fog setting in
When branches bow
They’re arching their limbs
They break their backs just to be welcoming
But we never feel at ease, do we?
Eileen"
The full orchestral sound does not really kick in until the end of the second verse, when it does, it is lush without being overly overpowering.
The last verse brings its own mic drop moment in the final line, and there is almost the sense that we have entered a Victorian gothic novel.
"Eileen
After how many years
Are you visiting?
You were in my dream again
Standing in the corner somehow looking older
Than you ever got to be
Eileen"
The musical backing gradually slows as the big reveal approaches, the final Eileen bringing things to a gentle conclusion. It leaves much unanswered which is what makes it all the more powerful, however it remains a stunning little single.
