A Girl Called Eddy

Elements of jazz-rock, folk, and '60s Baroque pop can be heard alongside the intimate lyrics of alternative singer/songwriter A Girl Called Eddy. Her yearning, disaffected spin on working-class life and relationships was introduced on her self-titled debut in 2004. Aside from a collaborative release with FUGU in the 2010s, not much was heard from the project until the eventual arrival of second album Been Around in 2020.

During her childhood, music provided an important escape for New Jersey Shore native Erin Moran (not to be confused with the Happy Days actress of the same name). Thanks to her parents, she grew up on a healthy dose of <a href="spotify:artist:1Mxqyy3pSjf8kZZL4QVxS0">Frank Sinatra</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4WoGga7UeRcmjD4ufif4nG">Tommy Dorsey</a>. In the late '90s, after her mother passed away, music was her therapy, providing a positive outlet for her to express herself, and she took a job as a recording-studio receptionist in New York. She soon began singing backup and playing keyboards for singer/songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:6AwYzEa1yP6p0ombj7wxtZ">Francis Dunnery</a> and got the chance to tour Great Britain. After issuing a self-titled album as a third of arty trip-hop act <a href="spotify:artist:18DDChgqMqy8lN9uZtmNL7">Leomoon</a> in 1999, she adopted the pseudonym A Girl Called Eddy for her solo material.

In 2001, A Girl Called Eddy released the debut EP Tears All Over Town on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Le+Grand+Magistery%22">Le Grand Magistery</a>. The songwriter eventually found herself back in England, and a chance meeting with <a href="spotify:artist:1ZsnHGOLYFg8CAHQQBc1ut">Richard Hawley</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:36E7oYfz3LLRto6l2WmDcD">Pulp</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1o7zIbVAgDDHKijLVuLASg">Longpigs</a>) led her to set up shop in Sheffield with <a href="spotify:artist:1ZsnHGOLYFg8CAHQQBc1ut">Hawley</a> and producer Colin Elliot for what would become her first proper album. The three collaborated on a trio of releases by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Anti-%22">Anti-</a> in 2004: the EPs Somebody Hurt You and The Long Goodbye and the long-player A Girl Called Eddy. In the meantime, she made fast fans of some high-profile songwriters, leading to concert dates with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:7bu3H8JO7d0UbMoVzbo70s">the Cure</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2PfBzriIMRsCXPDtSy9vg8">Rufus Wainwright</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4fomCZiFUMX73KJ0YQ0V90">the Beautiful South</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7EV6jW6dotBdvsHj6xPixi">the Divine Comedy</a>.

Not much was heard from the project over the next dozen or so years, though Moran collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:1mgMUiCLotueW9uU9ZZjk3">Katerine</a> on a song for the 2005 compilation Le Pop en Duo: Les Chansons de la Nouvelle Scène Française, and her cover of the Beatles' "Julia" was featured on a give-away CD by the music magazine Mojo in 2008. She also appeared in the 2013 music documentary Jingle Bell Rocks! Moran eventually teamed up with indie pop artist FUGU (<a href="spotify:artist:7FaBWFCGOvG7cAMULmoUL0">Mehdi Zannad</a>) to release an eponymous album as <a href="spotify:artist:2TOQ5b0RlP66nGOKBK66cU">the Last Detail</a> on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elefant+Records%22">Elefant Records</a> in 2018. By then calling London home, A Girl Called Eddy finally re-emerged with her second solo long-player, Been Around, on the same label in early 2020. It was produced by <a href="spotify:artist:31ooPZ5zIIegWN9rL5QSq0">the Silver Seas</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:4RldQHPp4l6UV78DAvf5qz">Daniel Tashian</a> and featured appearances from, among others, Paul Williams, <a href="spotify:artist:0XJaZaoMBv3i7FoAr7Slg4">the Watson Twins</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2UDwDsXSzQ0Cnqa1p3stWy">Viktor Krauss</a>. ~ Marcy Donelson & MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi