Album Notes

Ella Blame's music has the intensity of twilight: deep, dark and luminous.

For this production, as on her debut CD "Ineffable Desire", Ella Blame was collaborating with several electronic musicians and multi-instrumentalists from around the globe – this time from U.S.A., Japan, India, and Germany.

Let yourself be enticed into another world by Ella's unique and magic voice and ethereal and psychedelic sounds. Her music not only leaks into your mind, Ella invades it, leaving you mesmerized. Listening to her voice removes one from reality into this hypnotic and mystical realm of so many emotions and thoughts we keep secret.

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Bitter Tears - Release Date 05-22-2008

Ella Blame comes from a different place entirely. She's one of the most original musicians I've ever heard. Honestly, listening to her CD Baby clips will give you a better impression than I can explain in words…Her performance on "Bitter Tears" (from her 2008 album of the same name) sounds like Sarah Brightman on two different kinds of acid, and when Sarah announced that her next record was going to piss off her record label, I hoped it'd sound a lot more like this. You've got drama already from the title and strings, and then those vocals come in, processed into the uncanny valley, operatic and brassy and commanding. The music has plenty of twists, of course, but this song's all about the singing…These don't even begin to sum her music up, though, so again, just go to CD Baby and listen. I sound like a shill and I guess, in this case, I am. This is worth it though. -- Sarah Morayati @ Self as Fractal

Ella Blame is one of the most difficult to define artists I’ve listened to in a while. Just when you think you’re flying on a magic carpet you’re in that Jamiroquai video where the floor moves; halfway between a silvery Christmas jingle and a snowy coke dream. Whimsical as all hell, Blame’s Bitter Tears album is an over-the-rainbow collection of electronic and ambient tracks bordering on the psychedelic and the ethereal. With a handful of international collaborators, the album has a variety of sounds and instruments ranging from Indian flutes to Celtic folk all generously sprinkled in Blame’s pixie dust. Her highly robotic yet strangely sweet voice goes in and out throughout the album with operatic presence.
-- Alexandra Kain, Dig This Real, Issue 14

Imagine a cross between Laurie Anderson and Bjork and you’re not far from the voice of Ella Blame… Siouxsie Sioux and Happy Rhodes are others who come to mind, although Blame is difficult to pin down…Blame’s delivery is intimate, beguiling, and sometimes a tad scary (that’s what makes it fun). The overall musicianship on Bitter Tears is mesmerizing in a weird way, underscoring the strengths of a strange and unique voice. Not quite goth, not a cabaret vamp, but somewhere in between. -- Mark Newman, Progression Magazine, Issue 55

Ella Blame continues to make edgy yet accessible music. She's still a strong presence vocally and is not afraid of experimenting. The densely throbbing "Cyberlover" is stuff to be proud of. Blame is not one to take an easy way out when she can throw a curveball. The spooky "Incurable" tiptoes delicately round its melody like Björk can do. "Bitter Tears" is haunted and dramatic, and Blame's acrobatic vocals don't let it down. It's another song that would easily fail in less assured hands. The closing "Hymn of Goodbye" is a suitable song to end the album. It's almost celestial and sweet, Blame's vocals angelic. -- Anna Maria Stjärnell, the Ectophiles' Guide

Bitter Tears definitely stands on its own as an album worth listening to and taken seriously. -- Darryl Gregory, Indie-Music

... Right from the first song "Cyberlover" you will feel like you entered a hidden territory where there is a lot to discover...Her new CD "Bitter Tears" has 11 songs and each and everyone of them can easily be your most favorite one. Listening to Ella is like being in a big mansion, each song opens up the door to a different room... with different colors, different decorations, different time frames. By the time the CD is over you ask yourself "Where was I just now?" ... that is if you think you are back... -- Hande Burdg, TheProgFiles

The second album "Bitter Tears" shows a more introverted side of Ella, the songs tend more towards ballads - but with a sting. The lyrics dive deep into the emotions that come with infatuation, saying goodbye, disappointment, grief and being empowered… All 11 songs are gems. I couldn’t pick a favorite... -- Thon Huijser