Eva Abraham

It's all about that voice. It's the voice that draws you in, that makes your soul ache, your heart soar, your woes fade. This is a voice that can only be described as stunning, honest, pure. It can float evocatively and flutter Björk-like, it can growl, it can glow. It can bounce joyously across happy-go-lucky ditties and ooze langoriously through haunting ballads. It's a voice that has been likened to Joni Mitchell's, Laura Nyro and Grace Slick's; and has won her tour support slots with the likes of John Martyn, Ani diFranco, Courtney Pine and Dexy's Midnight Runners. It's floated across fields at many a UK festival. It's been discovered as far as Greece, India and Paris. And Leftfield's Neil Barnes and pop maestro David Grey, alongside hip hop stalwarts DJ Skitz and Rodney P, have clamoured to work with it. This is Eva Abraham's voice. And with the release of second solo album 'Full Circle' - featuring collaborations with organist Mick Talbot (Style Council/Dexy's Midnight Runners), trumpeter Byron Wallen, Zero 7 drummer Crispin Taylor and guitarist Mark Vandergught of Galliano - you're about to get much, much closer to it. Born and bred in London to a Hungarian father and a Polish mother, singer-songwriter Eva Abraham was a performer from the off. "I was always singing harmonies to anything and everything. You know, the whole hairbrush routine, standing on the coffee table imagining an audience when no one was looking!" At just 16 she began singing covers with a mate and ended up with a weekly residence in East Barnet, performing covers from Billie Holiday's 'Lover Man' to Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams', always ending with their own warped version of 'Summer Loving' from Grease. With her first acoustic guitar she taught herself two or three chords, wrote a handful of songs, practised loads and decided to go solo. A debut gig at the Mean Fiddler and a second-hand four-track later, she was on her way. A friend tipped her in the direction of the famed 'floorspot' nights at The Troubadour Coffee House on London's Old Brompton Road and "I was off, totally taken by the whole Folk scene". A world of discovery had opened up. Next Eva went through her band phase: first with Evalution, whose albums 'Soul Glide' and and 'I Turn Away' released on their own label 'Sunflower' led to sell-out performances at The Jazz Café, Ronnie Scotts and Dingwalls. They rode the festival circuit too - Glastonbury as well as Phoenix and Cambridge. And then it was the turn of Evika, a four-piece on a rockier vibe. Things were going well. Very well. That is, until Evika's guitarist and Eva's good friend and mentor Jim Thomas fell seriously ill with leukemia. He died on Friday 13 March 1998. It was a devastating blow to Eva. But it was also, perhaps, the making of her too. Grieving and closing in on herself, she set up her first home studio and began writing - "good and bad". Slowly, surely, her evocative debut solo album 'Shadow Gazing' took shape. Produced by Niven Garland (Portishead), and featuring strings by Instrumental and Zero 7¹s Crispin Taylor on drums, the lushly orchestrated 'Shadow Gazing' was a serious contender for a Mercury nomination. After a stint signed to the wonderfully eclectic but sadly doomed City Rockers label run by DJ Damian Lazarus in 2001, it was released on Big Chill recordings to rapturous acclaim in 2005. And now? Well, as Eva says herself, she feels she's come 'Full Circle', with more "wisdom and maturity". Where 'Shadow Gazing' was an introspective affair wrought out of grief, second album 'Full Circle' is borne out of sheer joy. "It's easy to write dark," maintains Eva, "But the real challenge is to write happy." With 'Full Circle' she's certainly met that challenge head-on. It's an album that blends all Eva's influences - gospel, pop, blues, folk and jazz - into a heady punch that'll make you giddy with a grin. "I wanted to celebrate music again!" smiles Eva. As well as partnering up with Instrumental's Andy Waterworth on production duties for 'Full Circle', the two of them have joined forces and created Hamworth music. As a duo they already have pieces in three British films - horror movie 'The Children' released December 2008 and two due for release in early 2009 - 'Bronson' and 'Dogging A Love Story'. Looks like it's going to be difficult to avoid Eva Abraham in 2009. With 'Full Circle' Eva has truly matured as an artist. Recording took some two years to complete, stretching her as a musician, writer, composer, producer and performer. ³I feel I'm better than than ever.² Her willingness to open up to new influences is key to Eva¹s appeal. From lapping up Hungarian and Polish Folk music at home as a small child, to discovering devotional music more recently, Eva is constantly learning, exploring, evolving. "It may be a cliche, but I feel I'm on a journey. And why should it ever end? I'll do it till the day I die."