Eleni Mandell Comes Home To Canada

It's not uncommon for Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Eleni Mandell to be mistaken as a Canadian and as Canadians, we don't mind pretending that she's one of our own.

The sultry singer has received gobs of support from the Canadian press, particularly in Toronto, and has found herself touring in this country more than a few times. Last spring she even scored the opening spot on the big Hawksley Workman Canadian tour (Hawksley + Eleni = very, very sexy, you know), exposing her to legions of young Hawksters who may not otherwise be drawn to her dark cabaret sound.

Mandell has a brand new album called Snakebite and is planning a tour later this month. The new record follows her widely-acclaimed sophomore album, Thrill, which came out in 2000 and scored Mandell all sorts of favourable comparisons to people like  PJ Harvey and  Lucinda Williams.

Mandell's most frequent label is "a female  Tom Waits," and while the tag fits, she's certainly prettier and less whiskey-drenched than the comparison would suggest. All of the praise that's been heaped on Mandell has been paying off — she's scored a publishing deal with Virgin and has recently returned from a tour that sent her to the U.K., Austria and Hungary.

We wonder if they've all tried to claim her as one of their own like we have.

Either way, you can catch honorary Canadian Eleni Mandell on the following dates:
March 26 Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus
March 28 Toronto, ON @ The Rivoli
March 29 London, ON @ Call The Office
April 5 Vancouver, BC @ The Railway Club