Sweet Soubrette – Heed This Siren’s Call

Sweet Soubrette front woman Ellia Bisker took up the ukulele because, with her small hands, “It’s easy to reach the chords, which helps me to compose songs.” She found the instrument to be a mixed blessing. “I am grateful that it made me stand out and opened doors for me, but there’s the danger of being pigeonholed as a novelty act.”

The Sweet Soubrette CD “Siren Song” is certainly no novelty, but is indeed a standout. Its spare arrangements, often featuring Ellia accompanied only by her ukulele, call attention to her beguiling voice, alternately (and often simultaneously) vulnerable and seductive, and to her lyrics, which range from wry and smart to disarmingly poignant. She sings convincingly as a temptress on “Homewrecker” and the title track, and moves the listener with “songs of doomed romance” such as “Tears That I’ve Cried” and “Unlucky in Love” that never slip into self-pity. She can even sing a love song to her ukulele without a hint of irony.

Ellia moved to Brooklyn six years ago, where she found the interaction with people in its well-populated neighborhoods to be inspiring. “Serendipity is dense in Brooklyn,” she says, “It’s so easy to make things happen here.” After receiving a ukulele as a gift in 2005, she soon took advantage of the open-mike nights at local clubs and played her first official gig in the Bindlestiff Family Circus’ variety show in spring 2006. She has since performed at several festivals and New York music venues, and has become a regular participant in the Brooklyn music scene, including Jalopy in Red Hook.

Ellia is currently working on the next Sweet Soubrette CD, “Days and Nights, which will feature a full band and have “a fuller sound, a little more rocking, more bite.”