Inspired by her experience teaching songwriting at a womens prison, Eleni Mandell's 11th studio release, Wake Up Again, is a set of compelling personalized musical portraits and vignettes. From the dark, dreamy Circumstance to the noisy Be Together, and the jagged brutality of What's Your Handle, the album highlights Elenis strengths as a writer and performer going back to her start under the tutelage of Chuck E. Weiss, Tom Waits and other top chroniclers of people in the shadows. Wake Up Again is a probing look into the lives and minds, the regrets and hopes of those she met, but ultimately also of her and us.