It is not often that a new artist comes onto the scene and
has a powerful uniqueness that listeners are immediately drawn to. Italian-born
Elisa is one of those artists. Already a triple-platinum superstar in Italy, now
America is poised and ready to welcome this exceptional recording artist,
songwriter, and live performer whose work knows no stylistic or geographical
boundaries. She’s a bold and sparkling talent with a gift and a genuine love for
turning songs into vivid, colorful snapshots.
Elisa’s pure, angelic voice and gift for melody first came to the attention of
American audiences last year when her song “Dancing” was featured on Fox’s hit
TV show So You Think You Can Dance. An ethereal, emotional ballad, “Dancing” hit
No. 16 on the iTunes Top 20 Songs chart immediately following the show’s
broadcast. A three-song EP featuring the song is currently available for
purchase on iTunes.
With an impressive string of No. 1 hits, multi-platinum albums and high-profile
artistic collaborations, Elisa has dueted with Luciano Pavarotti at Pavarotti &
Friends, has sung at the Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Salt Lake City, and
has recorded a duet with Tina Turner entitled "Teach Me Again," for the 2005
film All the Invisible Children — a collaboration featuring work by Spike Lee
and John Woo. Most recently, she dueted with Andrea Bocelli at the "Teatro del
silenzio" in Lajatico, Italy performing her hit “Dancing.”
From propulsive rock-tinged anthems to tender ballads, Elisa is certainly an
artist who lives deep inside the songs she creates. Whether dreamlike and
ethereal (“Rainbow”) or soaring and passionate (“The Waves”), or stripped to
their most vulnerable essence (“Broken”), each of Elisa’s songs reveals another
fascinating aspect of the singer’s complex but entirely compelling personality.
Leaving the listener poised with great anticipation for what surprises and
common threads the next track will hold for them, her American debut album
Dancing reaches the vast scope of human emotions.
“A pure, good song embraces the Polaroid of a moment, of a feeling, of a memory.
A song is somehow able to bring you back to a moment, to make you remember
things in the freshest way, in a deep way. Sometimes I put really strange
dresses on them. I like to play with the arrangements like they’re clothes. But
the songs are quite pure, at least the best work I've been able to do.” - Elisa
Elisa Toffoli was born in Monfalcone, in the north-east of Italy, where she
recalls, “Everybody sang. Nobody did it in front of audiences, but everybody did
it for their friends and family. My grandfather used to sing in a choir and he
was the only one who knew a little bit about harmonies. Where we come from,
we’re very close to the mountains … and they have these beautiful incredible
harmonies.”
As a youngster, Elisa immersed herself in popular music, and also found
inspiration for her songwriting in the works of an American musical icon:
“The one book I really enjoyed and remembered like a bible was Jim Morrison’s An
American Prayer. I was very young, I’d just seen the movie [The Doors] by Oliver
Stone, and it was like somebody hit me in the head. From that moment, I was
under his spell. I started writing in English, attracted by the energy of that
book. That was really the beginning.”
Musically, Elisa was soon exploring the work of such divergent artists as Otis
Redding, Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, and Smashing Pumpkins. At 15, she
auditioned for Sugar Records’ Caterina Caselli, beginning an association with
the label that lasts to this day. By age 18, she was in California recording her
debut album, Pipes & Flowers, which went triple-platinum in Italy. A succession
of best-selling discs followed, including Asile’s World, Then Comes the Sun, the
acoustic collection Lotus, and Pearl Days, produced by Glen Ballard (Alanis
Morissette, Michael Jackson).
“When I first met Elisa, I was very impressed to find a true and real artist. In
the noise and fast-pace of today’s culture we need real artists who are able to
express things we don’t even have time to talk about. All of the greatest
artists do what they have to do and they accept the consequences. I was sure
that Elisa is someone able to accept the consequences of what she’s expressing
and most likely the consequences will be positive.” – Glen Ballard
Though Elisa has only begun her journey in America as an artist, she feels that
this is very much part of her musical journey: “To have people feel like they
can relate to the meaning of my songs, that's where the magic is.” There is no
doubt that listeners will agree that this artist is truly magical.
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