It’s hard to imagine luminous skinned, flame-haired beauty Karen Elson being bullied at school. But now the model, and mother of White Stripes Jack White’s children, is having the last laugh. The title of her brilliant blues-inspired new album stems from her school time nickname, ‘The Ghost Who Walks’. Haunting and atmospheric – with a lyrical dexterity that’s comparable to a fledgling Nick Cave – Elson shows the vocal strength and timbre of Cat Power, or an Americana PJ Harvey, as she moves between murder ballad to lonesome lament.

Her transition from model to musician is definitely a family affair – produced by her husband, her band mates include The Dead Weather’s Jack Lawrence and Meg White’s husband, Jackson Smith (son of Patti). It’s not far from the circus-like vaudeville group, Citizens Band that she was once a part of. Ultimately, there’s no doubt that Elson is both beautiful and talented – for which we love and salute her – but she’s also so incredibly lucky. What other musician could hope to launch their music career post-thirty? The people of Oldham must be dead proud.

‘The Ghost Who Walks’ released on Third Man/XL records, out now.
www.karenelson.com

Tags: jack white, karen elson, the ghost who walks