Coming just in time to provide the season with its soundtrack is SaraEllen’s newest single, “Haunted House (I Wanna Buy A),” a tribute much more for the groove than for the ghosts. And while this isn’t your average Halloween bop, it is a playful, danceable jaunt through a retro jazz number with that little twist of tease and mischief only SaraEllen could whack into a musical clue.
The song quickly grabs the ear with playful but slightly creepy instrumentation. Arntzen’s banjo skitters across the arrangement, and Brad Carter’s clarinet gives it a thrilling flavor. Jacques Willis, handling the drums, and Plaid Lion’s Ian Franzel on bass provide a rhythmic foundation that makes the song feel like a slick toe-tapper. And then there’s SaraEllen herself, whose voice skims from the silky to the sassy, and in a jaw-dropping scat solo that shows off her instrumental jazz skills and theatrical verve.
The song is sassy and smart-alecky, in a playful way, hinting at otherworldly mystery. Lines accrue as precisely as a punch line, asking listeners to smile, and sway, and if necessary blush. The song’s playful, flirtatious energy is something of a secret murmured in the middle of a crowded room, close and impossible to ignore.
For fans of genre-melding artists such as Florence and The Machine, Laufey, and SKOTT, SaraEllen’s solo music takes a whole new approach to indie jazz-pop, with perky, theatrical pop inflections. It’s clear that her Plaid Lion roots run deep, but “Haunted House (I Wanna Buy A)” heralds SaraEllen as a rockstar in her own right, irresistible half-spooky charm, half-sultry refinement.
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