Eleni Mandell Brings Miracle To Toronto

Eleni Mandell is a bit of a musical conundrum. Her latest album, Miracle Of Five, is a slow-burning, sultry collection of songs that range from jazzy to Sarah Harmer-esque country-folk.

But her influences range from seminal Los Angeles punk band X to Randy Newman, Tom Waits and Cole Porter. She even confesses to jumping around her living room, dancing and singing along to "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band in the moments before ChartAttack called to chat.

Musicians who defy conventional labels are among the most interesting to listen to, but the downside is that they're often overlooked by a mainstream music industry that likes easy-to-market categories and round pegs that fit into round holes on the radio.

Mandell has released six full-length albums and a handful of EPs during her impressive under-the-radar career. The New Yorker magazine referred to her as "the best unsigned singer in the business."

"Well, they've never wanted to put out any of my records," says Mandell of the major record companies. "It's been so long since I've really got in the thick of that world, but yeah, my experience was a lot of disappointment and rejection for many years. But never enough to change my mind about what I wanted to do."

Mandell lives in the music industry hub of Los Angeles, but Miracle Of Five ironically found a home with small Toronto-based label, Zedtone. And she couldn't be happier about it. Label founder Ian Pearson befriended Mandell after reading an article about her in NOW magazine after the release of her first record.

"He's a really enthusiastic music lover, and really curious about music and always listening to music and buying music, way more than I ever have," says Mandell. "So he decided to start this record label.

"And we've both been naive and sort of learning as we go, so nothing would please me more than for this record to be incredibly successful so that he could be rewarded for his kindness and generosity."

Miracle Of Five took nearly two years to make due to Mandell's relentless touring schedule and producer Andy Kaulkin's duties as president of Anti- Records. It's a seamlessly impressive album and a beautiful listen. In addition to Mandell's band, it features the work of multi-instrumentalist Nels Cline (Wilco), who adds to the distinctive and occasionally dreamy and whimsical sound. Mandell's lyrics are tiny self-contained stories that are, in her opinion, a bit more optimistic than her previous work.

"When I wrote those songs, things weren't necessarily settled, but I just started projecting more into the future and worrying less about the past and surrounding myself with better people and just kind of starting to appreciate where I was in my life instead of hoping that I would be somewhere else. I'm not saying the record is cheerful — it isn't by a long shot. It's sort of hopeful, melancholy, perhaps with a couple of sad moments sprinkled in."

Mandell's excited to tour in support of the record, but she's also more than ready to start work on her next one, which she says will sound nothing like Miracle Of Five.

"I don't really think that hard about what kind of song I want to write. I don't feel like that works for me. I can't exercise that much authority over inspiration. But I do want to write music that people can dance to at some point in my life, because I love to dance."

True to form, you just can't pin this girl down. And judging from the quality of her work, there's no need to. Mandell performs on Wednesday at Toronto's Mod Club.