{"product_id":"vocal-break-9781784745271","title":"Vocal Break : On Women, Music and Power","description":"\u003cp\u003eA dazzlingly original reassessment of the power and plurality of women's singing voices by the critically acclaimed author of Art Monsters and Scaffolding\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor millennia, women’s raised voices have been heard as unruly, uncivilized, dangerous. Women singing were cast as sirens: mythical creatures who lured sailors to their death.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Vocal Break, Lauren Elkin seamlessly blends memoir, feminist manifesto and cultural history to explore a plurality of female singing voices – and how women have used them to defy convention, genre, capitalism, racism and sexism.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on her own experiences training as a young soprano in the 1990s, Elkin reflects on the way power and identity shape our voices, focusing on the women who most excited her when she was learning to sing. A vocal break refers to the place where the voice shifts from lower to higher registers, so from one thing to another, and this is a book about what kind of meanings, and sounds, can be made there. Immersing readers in an eclectic soundscape, from musicals and pop music to art punk, what follows is a full-throated tour of women’s voices, including Édith Piaf, Maria Callas, Cyndi Lauper, Kathleen Hanna, Tori Amos, PJ Harvey, Beyoncé, FKA Twigs and Billie Eilish.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReflecting on what makes women’s singing so powerful – to the point where others feel the need to control or manipulate it – Vocal Break is a joyous call to arms, a siren call:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGirls to the front: NOW.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Lauren Elkin\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eMusic, Memoirs, Feminism \u0026amp; feminist theory\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 21 May 2026 by Vintage Publishing.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHardback\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Lauren Elkin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57320619377018,"sku":"9781784745271","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781784745271.jpg?v=1790659308","url":"https:\/\/belfastbooks.co.uk\/products\/vocal-break-9781784745271","provider":"Belfast Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}