Lauren Elkin's 'Vocal Break' Examines Singing as Feminist Resistance

Lauren Elkin's new book 'Vocal Break' (Chatto & Windus) blends memoir and manifesto to explore the cultural history of women's singing as an act of expression, rebellion, and power. Drawing on personal anecdotes, literary criticism, and feminist theory, Elkin examines the female voice as both spectacle and threat, tracing how women have been silenced or punished for using their voices. The book references sirens, Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid', Homer's 'Odyssey', and figures like Cyndi Lauper, Kathleen Hanna, Cynthia Erivo, Maria Callas, and Kamala Harris. Elkin, a former soprano who trained in musical theatre, uses her own vocal break—the transition between chest and head voice—as a metaphor for resistance. The work follows her previous books 'Flâneuse' and 'Art Monsters', and includes analysis of punk, riot grrrl, opera, and the politics of listening. Elkin discusses how singing can be a tool of political resistance, citing Pussy Riot's Maria Alyokhina, and addresses contemporary silencing through politics, religion, AI, and autotune. She notes that writing the book helped her reclaim her own voice after abandoning a singing career. The book is described as a 'gesamtkunstwerk' that doubles as a playlist featuring Bikini Kill, the Raincoats, Tori Amos, and Charli xcx.