Ella Pollett is a young (17) singer/songwriter
from Hawke’s Bay who has already seen some success with
Smokefree Rockquest, and will soon be playing her biggest gig to date when she
opens for Rod Stewart at the Mission concert. This is her third single,
following on from 2021’s Hold On, which like When I’m Gone
assisted Ella in winning her section in the regional heats of SFRQ.
This is a
pleasant number, with Ella’s vocals always front and centre, and as well as her
riffed acoustic we get touches of steel, drums, cello, bass, electric guitar, harmony
vocals and keyboards with the result being a song which straddles the boundaries
of pop and country. Her singing style definitely feels like that of a young
person, with lilts and lifts, sometimes moving into head voice but often also
staying much more in the middle, more alto than soprano.
The song tells the story of unrequited love, having someone important in your life who means the world to you, but they do not feel the same way - maybe they will realise this once you have gone. At 3:30 there is a gentle drop off with a nice haunting vocal “you will miss me too”, and I think it would have had more impact if it had finished at that point but it then returns to the chorus and melody to bring it out to just over 4:00. Pleasant and sweet, I am sure we will be hearing a lot more from Ella in the future.
Ella Pollett is a HB singer/songwriter. She began singing at the age of 11 and playing guitar at 13. Ella released her first song Fireflies in 2021, then followed with another song Hold On later that year.
In 2022 Ella won the solo/duo section at the HB Smokefree Rockquest with her original song When I'm Gone. She also won in 2021 for her song Hold On.
She can be found playing at the following venues: The Urban Winery, Crab Farm, Three Wise Birds and the Hawkes Bay Farmer's Market.