Pop/Rock - Left-of-center L.A. singer/songwriter and critical darling Eleni Mandell brings both sweet and tart to the follow up to her 2007 album "Miracle of Five". Self-described as a "more direct, more full band sound", "Artificial Fire" delivers some real warmth with Mandell's sultry, slightly world-weary voice front and center.

Moving away from the more intimate directness of her previous works, "Fire" sounds more of a band work with some tracks, like the rockin' "Bigger Burn" mixing up twangy energy and an 80's new-wave edge. Says PASTE magazine, Mandell "may be the best songwriter on discordant desire and heartache since Joni Mitchell" adding that "the interplay between Eleni and her band is reminiscent of Chrissie Hynde and early Pretenders."

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