Like true wrought iron, they rarely make them like this any more. In contrast to the rich tapestries of her debut album, 2007's Battle and Victory, Nancy Elizabeth takes inspiration from silence and solitude to fuel these strangely gripping, quietly involving songs. Turning her back on the harp that provided the musical focus for her earlier work, Elizabeth employs a fresh instrumental palette for Wrought Iron--including guitar, glockenspiel, vibraphone and a hundred-year-old Dulcitone--building the album around her instrument of choice, the piano, and her warm, unaffected voice. The album is as much influenced by the minimalism of Arvo Paert and Steve Reich as by the choral harmonies of Judee Sill and the bare expression of Leonard Cohen's early records. "I find music attractive in its simplicity," Elizabeth explains. "I'm fascinated when I listen to Reich's work. I love his use of voices, mallet instruments and pianos, and I wanted to bring some of that to the album." One might catch a glimpse of another of Elizabeth's influences, Mark Hollis, on "Bring on the Hurricane," with its gentle guitar intonations, bold piano, and building dynamic. The spare but evocative use of Matthew Halsall's trumpet on the album's musical centerpiece, "Lay Low," is an uplifting addition to the earthy guitar and hand claps, while on "The Act" Elizabeth reveals a different side of herself, all bluesy sensuality and arching ardour, with train-track harmonica and a loose guitar rhythm.
