Eli

Over the last few months Australian newcomer Eli has treated us tow three unique and exciting singles with Opening/Track ID, I Want To Feel Alright (feat. DoloRRes) and One of These Days, which also came with promise of his debut ep heading our soon.

That ep is titled “I Can Be Whatever You Want Me To Be” and it is scheduled for release on August 28th via Mammal Sounds Records, and with it comes two previously unheard gems. The first of those and the focus-track for the ep is ‘What If/If Only’ which has him teaming up with Melbourne artist Lucy Lamb, who adds a gritty Grimes-esque flavour to Eli’s alternative blends of hyper-pop/dance-pop electronica…

“When it came to bringing this song to life in a recorded setting, I was initially inspired by so much of the drum and bass chopping you might see on Vierre Cloud’s ‘Moment’.

Once I had the production fleshed-out I made an attempt at recording the vocals but wasn’t very happy with them. My friend Lucy (Lamb) had just come back from Europe, and we had wanted to make a song together for some time, so I scrapped my vocals, told her I had no lyrics for it and asked her to go crazy.

So many of these lyrics were initially written by Lucy, I can’t speculate on what she meant when she wrote some of this. But I know when I was writing to complement what she had already written, I found that for me this was a song about romance. About romanticising and the grandiose nature of what that feels like. The idea of sensitivity and how dramatic it can feel.” ~ Eli

The ep’s closing song is quite different to the other songs in this collection, but it does fit the overall flow really well. ‘I’ll Ask Them To Go’ was first written back when Eli was 17, and since then his journey into the world of electronica has been eye-opening to say the least. 

“I have been trying to write this song since I was 17…At 16 I became infatuated with Jeff Buckley and his music. From very early on I fell in love with ‘Lover, you should’ve come over’, and I always wanted to make a song like that. A romance song that was melancholic but felt like an epic. This song has had so many different versions. So many versions it would be impossible to tell it was even the same song. Different lyrics and different chords. 

At 16 I became infatuated with Jeff Buckley and his music. From very early on I fell in love with ‘Lover, you should’ve come over’ and I always wanted to make a song like that. A romance song that was melancholic but felt like an epic. This song has had so many different versions. So many versions it would be impossible to tell it was even the same song. Different lyrics and different chords.” ~ Eli

Eli also shares some insight into this album as whole. It’s something he’s quite proud of, and for good reason as well. He touches on the reasons for creating an eclectic yet cohesive album, as well as the romantic elements that drove a lot of its creation, both good and bad…

“The EP has a really eclectic sound to it, which is something I was a little afraid of but now I take a lot of pride in that. I think sometimes there is a pressure for a musical project now to have a consistent vibe or sound to it and I definitely love that side of music making and it’s something I really want to explore in the future. But looking back on what albums have inspired me the most, it’s always been albums that change sounds, where each song stands on their own and is separate from each other. Those are the albums I go back and listen to over and over because there is so much there to find. That’s definitely what I was trying to do with this, and I hope people resonate with that.

I guess that’s also why it’s called ‘I can be whatever you want me to be’. I mean it has a really romantic sound to it which I really love, and it’s also a statement I have thought and struggled a lot with in my personal life, for good or bad. But from a musical perspective it’s me showing the different things I can be, the different sounds I can make. I don’t have to fit into any particular genre or sound. I can do whatever I want musically and I’m more comfortable now with showing that. I’ve spent I lot of time with this music, I’m glad to finally let it go and I hope some people can take something from it.” ~ Eli