Album Notes

“Elevator Ride” is the Beauty and the Beast-like collaboration of two downtown rockers and a sultry ingénue. Co-produced by Kenny Siegal (Johnny Society) and Jonathan Spottiswoode (Spottiswoode & His Enemies), Exter’s debut CD is at once visceral and sophisticated. It brings together the trademark rawness and punchiness of Siegal, the noir cinema of Spottiswoode’s songwriting, and the breathy vulnerability of Exter’s singing.

Drummer Brian Geltner (Johnny Society, Nervous Cabaret) brings no shortage of grace and lunacy, and Spottiswoode’s famous horn-playing Enemies make a few appearances too. Miss Exter, the youngest granddaughter of a Ukrainian communist, a Disneyland-tire maker, an Yves St. Laurent wedding dress model and the Chief Statistician for President Lyndon Johnson, polishes the album off with her own song, “Float,” bringing the record to a lush, haunting close that anticipates a gorgeous second project, already in the works.

PRESS:
"OK, picture this: Lou Reed and Astrud Gilberto have a baby. She's raised by the band Mazzy Star until the age of 16, when she falls in love with James Bond and runs away to Argentina. Got it? The soundtrack for this story is the music of New York resident Bronwen Exter. Hypnotizing you with her husky, half-whispered vocals, she'll thrill you with the mixture of samba, tango and NYC cool, and entice you with lyrics about dreams, pain and roads from the moon to the sun. To the instrumental foundation of bass, drums and guitar, Exter adds organ, piano, trumpet and saxophone. The work of songwriter and producer Jonathan Spottiswoode is evident in the offbeat yet refined sound. From the refreshingly eccentric lyrics to the creative arrangements, Elevator Ride will be a trip your ears will want to take again and again." - Mare Wakefield, Performing Songwriter

"On her début album, “Elevator Ride,” Bronwen Exter’s voice is like a warm mist capable of obscuring all of life’s problems." - The New Yorker

“Exter possesses a breathy, ethereal singing voice that is reminiscent of Rickie Lee Jones and the Cowboy Junkies’ Margo Timmins. Elevator Ride is full of enchanting tales of scorned women, the Deep South, and intoxicating tropical nights, with Exter's voice creating alternating senses of narcotic tranquility and tragic nightmare ... Basically, if you don't like this album, then there's something wrong with you.” - BreakThru Radio