Frontwoman Elizabeth Steen brings the world of pop together without an ounce of pretension, just to prove its possible to defy the pressures of time. The intelligent songwriting will wrap around your ears and tell you something you want to know and take you somewhere you want to go, because daydreaming isn't for wusses. Not these days.
Steen grew up in Pittsburgh, PA in a musical family, studied classical piano and earned a Masters in piano performance. Once in the famous dirty water of Boston, Steen was put to work as keyboardist with Count Zero, recording and touring with Tanya Donelly then Natalie Merchant.
On her wry debut CD, "Mockery," Elizabeth's reedy voice is colored with wit and knowing, playing happily in the company of producer and collaborator Peter Moore along with band members from Count Zero, Natalie Merchant's band and Kill Henry Sugar. The sound is richly layered with keyboard and guitar textures, drum loops and shimmering effects, which delve and dart much as the lyrics do around such themes as dissillusionment, self-deception and faltering convictions. A 2nd CD is in the works.
Mockery
"Steen is a phenomenal storyteller...she captivates with tender phrasing...
the 11 songs are airy, pop meditations that sound like a combination of the
Beatles, No Doubt, and Jeff Buckley with an edgy dash of Sonic Youth thrown in."
--Michael J. Ryan
(Boston Herald)
"...a budding, literate storyteller, she's immensely likable, with a knack for inventive metaphors...gently hits all the appropriate pleasure zones."
--Chris Kriofske
(Splendidezine.com)
"What happens when the Punk Rock Prom Queen grows up and goes to college and gets wiser? The result is probably something that sounds a lot like Fritter."
--C.D. DiGuardia
(New England Performer Magazine)
