Elles Bailey — Beneath The Neon Glow (Cooking Vinyl)

Five years ago this month the Rushonrock team was en route to the Blues Stage at the much-missed Ramblin’ Man Fair.

We’d been given a hot tip: don’t dare miss the brilliant Elles Bailey.

Expectations duly high, we settled down near the front and hoped upon hope we could believe the hype.

By the time Bailey had run through a moving version of Levon Helm’s When I Go Away, we were hooked.

In the half decade since, one of the UK’s most authentic singer songwriters has rarely failed to deliver.

Singles I Remember Everything and last year’s Lean On My Love both bagged our Red Hot Tracks Of The Week.

And Bailey’s journey from dreamy 2017 debut Wildfire to 2022’s shimmering Shining In The Half Light has been nothing short of visionary.

Turns out we’d only heard the half of it.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to describe Beneath The Neon Glow as a bona fide game changer.

It knocks Bailey’s robust back catalogue out of the park.

And it announces the true arrival of the voice of the UK’s burgeoning blues, roots and Americana scene.

Whether it’s motherhood, a pin-sharp production job or supreme self-confidence: something’s happened to elevate Bailey to the next level.

The vocals are more powerful, the songwriting emotionally richer and the scope of her creativity far, far wider.

Beneath The Neon Glow is a luminous, radiant triumph.

Elles Bailey comes of age

Smouldering soul, tangled roots and teasing flourishes of country and Southern rock — this record has it all.

Bailey might be synonymous with the blues — six UK Blues awards since 2021 don’t lie — but Beyond The Neon Glow marks a significant gear shift.

Famously versatile and yet never this ambitious, there’s a sense that the Planet Rock presenter is going for broke on a refreshingly aspirational album.

Let It Burn could be a Bond theme with its power pop leanings and nods to Adele.

Switch back to If This Is Love and it’s like listening to peak Shania Twain sharing a stage with Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Bailey brings the RnB to super smooth ballad Love Yourself — imagine a late night at London’s 100 Club supping ice cold negronis against the backdrop of music for the soul.

But the retro-styled 1972 is the real treat here: its throwback lyrical themes and funky vibe showcasing an artist on fire.

Bailey channels her inner Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty on the beautiful Ballad Of A Broken Dream and, in retrospect, she’d have been the perfect fit to join the former at last weekend’s BST Hyde Park party. 

For all its highlights, Beneath The Neon Glow’s best enjoyed in its entirety, in one immersive sitting.

Only then is it possible to truly capture the mood of an expansive body of work built to last.

Bailey has been waiting to make this remarkable record all of her life.

Bettering Beneath The Neon Glow will be her biggest challenge yet.