"Sparkwheel": Ella Jane album review

Ella Jane's first EP as an independent artist, Sparkwheel, is her best work yet.

The record can be summarized by bubbly production, snappy presentation, and golden imagery. Emphasis on the imagery – the album cover is incredibly on point to the sonic and lyrical visuals. A partly cloudy spring evening in LA is Ella’s backdrop. She wears black, her tattoos are vivid, and the sun shines perfectly on a chunk of her hair, showcasing red dye. This is exactly the woman and setting I feel like I’ve entered by the time the album ends. Aside from the image-based visual presentation, I also can’t help but notice the versatility in what the song titles offer. They contain numbers, alliteration, punctuation, and even a city name. It's nice on the eyes.

The Sparkwheel album cover, photo by Athena Merry

I automatically eat up the synth-driven “10-Blade” because I love the sound of the word "blade". Ella matches the texture of such a word by using other words like “grass”, “wishbones” and “flatline”. The full lyrics are rich too, often feeling like advice – “I always kept a thumb on the sparkwheel, knowing you can’t start a fire with just will”. The Big Thief lyrical influences are evident and appreciated. This is also the first song on the record produced by Mike Irish, my new favorite producer.

A Laufey-blues vibe is introduced with “We Were Just Dancing”. The imagery in this song is what I’m most referring to when I say that this album is perfectly represented by the cover. It almost reminds me of La La Land. Jazzy, LA twilight, you know the feeling? The backing vocals feel misty. The bridge stings, “Do you think it was easy for me to leave your love behind? Do you think that I wanted to lose the best thing in my life?”

“Guard Dog” is hands down my favorite. The chorus is perfect, detailing dedicating yourself to someone the same way a guard dog will (seemingly blindly) dedicate itself to its family. But Ella maintains control. She sings gently, “Do you really believe I would put out the fire?” and immediately follows knowingly, almost speaking, “Babe, I’m the one with the match”. The melody and production are splendid, particularly the slight riff at the end of, “The only thing that’s gonna fuck this up is if you love me like I’m gonna leave, like I’m gonna leave”. This lyric precedes the droning but devastating whisper-singing outro. Sometimes I feel like I’m in the minority of people who love a good whisper-singing moment, and I looooove this one.

I’m immediately hooked on the acapella opening of “There’s No Sign of Me (Anywhere)”. This is Mike Irish’s second appearance on the record. Part of what prompted me to check the production credits was the consistent successful pivoting in directions of the key. I’ve gotten pretty good at being able to distinguish a minor key from a major key, but this one stumped me. My favorite lyric is, “You let me fade like a bruise, fell away with the waning moon”. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an adjective as effective as “waning” is in this context. It makes the lyric hurt. As it ends, the song reminds me of Taylor Swift’s “I Look In People’s Windows” (2024) and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Less” (2026).

“Seattle” falls a little flat, leaning on acoustic guitar while surrounded by poppier songs, but it still contains some great moments. The final line of the chorus, “You don’t do things accidentally”, in the context of someone being messy while flirting with you, is a gut punch. It’s followed by a windy oohing sound that could either be Ella’s voice or a synthesizer. The, once again, experimental nature of the song’s key keeps it relatively cohesive with the rest of the record.

The first thing I notice when listening to “When I Was Beautiful” is the distortion on the piano intro, followed by crisp vocal production. Also produced by Mike Irish, this song and the closer, “You’re So Good”, have left me obsessed with his work. Irish has already produced some of Ella’s earlier songs, including "bored&blind” (2021) and “I Wanna” (2022), but he’s truly outdone himself. The almost xylophonic keyboard sound in “When I Was Beautiful” is stunning, reminding me of the production of “More” by Halsey. The vocal production is reminiscent of Imogen Heap (think “Hide and Seek” and “Just for Now”). The song discusses growing up female, surrounded by ideals of beauty and innocence. The Halsey influences linger through the upbeat “You’re So Good”, bringing the record to an excellent close.

Ella Jane, photo by Athena Merry

Read my interview with Ella regarding “We Were Just Dancing” here.

You can listen to Sparkwheel on all platforms now.