Ella Thompson - Ripple On The Wing (2024) [Hi-Res]

Ella Thompson’s new record Ripple on the Wing is a soaring 10 song collection - a sweet and spooky modern take on classic soul music. With echoes of 1960’s lowrider love songs and haunting cinematic arrangements; Ella sings songs of personal empowerment & self-realisation alongside classic themes of love & longing.

Backed by an impeccable band featuring members of Surprise Chef with other Melbourne soul luminaries; Ripple on the Wing’s production palette is an intoxicating blend of the acoustic & amplified - with harpsichord, piano & flute melding with classic funky drums, organ, guitar along with those sweet vocal harmony singalong ‘oohs & ahhhs’ that make everything alright.

Inspired by icons like Australian soul pioneer Renee Geyer & groups like The Shangri-La’s (as well as contemporary soul artists like Thee Sacred Souls and Baby Rose), Ella’s songwriting draws on poetry, philosophy and personal experience to inform her lyrics. Ripple On The Wing is truly cinematic - not just in the sense that it owes a lot to Soundtrack & Library Musics, but that it is also an album of storytelling & moods - each song defining its own scenery & space. One such example comes from the sweet & soulful Little Star, where Ella’s lyrics take comfort in belonging to the microscopic & the universal, creating a lullaby-like softness to sink into - inviting her listeners to contemplate the vast expanse of human emotion & the interconnectedness of all things.

One More Step & There's A Fire continue in the sweet soul vein with themes of finding belonging and reciprocity. In contrast, the staunch & spooky Omen explores Ella’s darker side, where reality intertwines with myth & the supernatural intermingles with the personal. Let There Be Nothing imagines a narrative where Carmela Soprano challenges the patriarchal system she is a part of. Don’t Be A Taurus is a playful slow dance serenade to tender love and letting go of stubbornness.

Ripple On The Wing is co-produced by Ella, Liam McGorry (Ex-Olympian, Dorsal Fins, Saskwatch) & Henry Jenkins (Karate Boogaloo), with Henry at the controls both in the recording process & the mix. The album being Mastered by NY legend Alex De Turk. The songs of Ripple on the Wing are written & arranged by both Ella & Liam, the latter also featuring on Trumpet alongside Cheryl Durongpisitkul’s rich saxophone. Surprise Chef’s Lachlan Stuckey, Jethro Curtin & Hudson Whitlock provide tremendously tasteful guitar, keyboards, vibraphone and percussion respectively, with Alex Roper & Tom Pettit locking it all down on the drums & bass. Hiatus Kaiyote’s Jace XL rounding out the ensemble with gorgeous backing vocals. Ripple on the Wing is a warm, immediate & honest record, a group of friends recording live in a room together.

Tracklist:
1-1. Ella Thompson - Let There Be Nothing (03:27)
1-2. Ella Thompson - One More Step (03:20)
1-3. Ella Thompson - Jigsaw (02:41)
1-4. Ella Thompson - There's A Fire, Yet To Burn (03:43)
1-5. Ella Thompson - Omen (03:45)
1-6. Ella Thompson - Other People's Problems (03:52)
1-7. Ella Thompson - Little Star (03:20)
1-8. Ella Thompson - Changes (03:32)
1-9. Ella Thompson - Sleep Walking (01:57)
1-10. Ella Thompson - Don't Be A Taurus (04:05)