Heart of Noise

“I powder my nose, he powders his gums”. And so begins Elena Tonra’s set at the Slaughtered Lamb. It comes a bit of a shock from someone so unassuming. With her eyes firmly focused on the floor in front and shoulders slightly hunched over her guitar, the odd jet of venom seems to come from nowhere. But behind the tentative, smiley persona, Elena Tonra doesn’t shy away from saying what she thinks. 

As the final act of the For Folks Sake night in Clerkenwell, it’s almost like storytime with Elena Tonra, with lovely and very fitting guitar accompaniment. Of course, this is what most singer-songwriters aspire to, but not all have the lyrics or the delivery to do so.

At times her voice has an almost R&B feel, and there is a rhythm and funk feel to the music that sets Elena apart, despite the girl and guitar folk set up. Her songs chart the despair, the hopelessness and the occasional elation of relationships, and just as they risk getting into soap opera ‘he said, she said’ tedium, some good humour and LDN attitude pulls you through ‘I want you so much, but I hate your guts’ for example. And at only 19 years old I’m sure there’s plenty more where that came from.