ELLE August 2013

Tuesday, August 6 LITTLE BIT COUNTRY On her fourth album, Invisible Empire//Crescent Moon , singer-songwriter KT Tunstall shows off a new, gentler country-folk sound with a collection of songs about broken hearts and lonely nights, naturally. Download now: "Made of Glass," the perfect soundtrack to a mellow summer night. "But you can't step up to the mike with fear in your heart. You have to love it…and you have to make the crowd love how much you love it.… You have to grab that mike like the song is desperate for you to bring it to life and wear it like a halo." —Rob Sheffield Tuesday, August 6 FINE TUNED After the death of his wife leaves Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield in a deep depression, he finds a…

Joining ELLE.com as our guest blogger won't be the only first for violinist Sarah Neufeld in the month of August: After 10 years of ensemble playing with Arcade Fire and Bell Orchestre, Neufeld is making her solo debut with the album Hero Brother (dropping August 20). In addition to being a critically acclaimed musician, Neufeld is the co-owner of (and an instructor at) the NYC outpost of Moksha Yoga; the studio, which offers a new hot-yoga method, has been opening locations worldwide over the past year. While wellness and rock 'n' roll might seem an unlikely pairing, the Vancouver Island native strikes a harmonious life balance: Get inspired by her updates from the road, meditation techniques, favorite recipes, music picks, and more on ELLE.com.—Catherine Straut MEDITATION MINUTE TAKING A…

The Twitterverse blew up recently over a magazine cover: specifically, the cover of Port that touted "A New Golden Age" of print media—over a photo of six white male magazine editors. There were a few, um, interest groups who took issue with it, and the assertion that this was a definitive list of who was doing the most significant work between the sheets was challenged by no less than the venerable New Republic, under the headline CAN WOMEN'S MAGAZINES DO SERIOUS JOURNALISM? The article nicely pointed out that ELLE is the only magazine edited primarily for women that's been nominated in the Columns and Commentary category for an ASME (American Society of Magazine Editors) award in the past decade. Unfortunately, the chief executive of ASME said, basically, that literary journalism…

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT Scandal addicts proudly refer to themselves as "gladiators"—and nowhere was their Spartacus-size passion for Kerry Washington more apparent than online, where thousands of gladiators have tweeted, commented, and Facebooked about our June cover girl. Below, our favorite remarks on TV's reigning queen of drama: "As an ELLE subscriber for many years, I was thrilled to see Kerry Washington on the cover! Kerry possesses brains, beauty, and talent: a triple threat! She makes all of us proud to be women!"—Carmen Jurado, Aliso Viejo, CA, via e-mail "KERRY WASHINGTON x ELLE MAGAZINE: HAPPY TO SEE HER GET THIS COVER"—@jermainedupri, via Twitter "If I could be anybody for a day, I would be this woman. She is so unbelievably gorgeous! Not to mention she seems like one of the…

Welcome to the '90s: Here's how we pulled off our shambolic-chic cover shoot starring Amanda Seyfried as a modern-day grunge girl. Photographer Carter Smith: "We took over a huge suite at NYC's Waldorf Astoria Hotel, with dozens of people. There was a wild, rotating cast of characters, from male models in dresses to Donatella Versace, who stopped by at one point—turns out she lives upstairs when she's in town. It was crazy!" ELLE Creative Director Joe Zee: "I loved Saint Laurent and Givenchy's fall collections and was inspired by Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain." Hairstylist Harry Josh: "Amanda kept cracking everyone up—she was game for anything, including transforming her naturally silky hair into a sexy, tangled mess. I used Serge Normant's Meta Revive Dry Shampoo for a perfectly matted effect."…

     • NAME: Liz Collins PROVENANCE: Birmingham, UK NOW: London and L.A. PROFESSION: Photographer THIS MONTH: "Cover Artists" (page 206). "I adore working with [ELLE Fashion Director] Samira Nasr. Our sensibilities are very similar. Sometimes we joke that we were separated at birth. We often turn up in clothes that the other one has at home." BONA FIDES: BA, photography, West Surrey College of Art and Design; work has appeared in The Gentlewoman, Fantastic Man, Vogue Nippon, Love, and Numéro FOLLOW ME: @thelizcollins. "Instagram is amazing. I try to post a picture a day. It's changed the world of image making entirely. Now people who didn't care about taking pictures are tapping into their abilities." READING: Grace: A Memoir, by Grace…