22 metagirl: (22) I FEEL YOU EVERYWHERE

[23.12.12 EDIT: Fuck! I’ve only just clocked that the album title starts with ‘(22)’ and it’s actually landed at #22! Come on, that’s proof of God’s existence, no?]

I recently discovered I want to be goth which is gonna make my next album really fun. Hopefully won’t take 2 years this time

Elora in 2020

Well, it technically didn’t take two years. And it ain’t fucking goth. It’s a borderline work of genius though.

Usually, when a small, none-more-independent bedroom artists like Elora Faith releases a record that beautifully exhibits their deft songcraft and seemingly supernatural way around a melody, my chief response is to usually lament what world-humping genius they’d be capable of if they had access to the resources. Would this artist be able to produce a record as universally beloved as ‘Desire, I Want to Turn Into You‘ if only the production budget extended to bagpipes? Would the raw, stripped back Strokes trumping GIVE AND TAKE AND WITCHCRAFT really get to the next level if Elora could afford to hire someone to blow a referees’ whistle just before the musical break like Paradise City? What if the budget stretched far enough for Taylor Swift to rap over ANTIBODIES about “Getting down to this sick beat“? Would that make the song better?

Well, yes. In both cases. Probably bad examples.

‘(22) I FEEL YOU EVERYWHERE’ suggests that Elora has their music just where it needs to be though. The album doesn’t sound raw and lo-fi because of limitations of resources, it sounds that way because these tender emotional pleas are just suited to being stripped back. It’s Elora understanding how the function should fit the form – or that the form should fit the function. I can’t remember which way round it is – and also being confident enough in the strength of the songs themselves to leave them largely untouched.

Again though, this isn’t some clattering, tinny, cheaply recorded bullshit where the only lasting impression of a long drone with the occasional anime reference. There’s little here save an acoustic guitar and a drum machine, but the production is perfectly crisp and never close to ‘lo-fi’. And it’s hardly some ‘Pink Moon’, stripped back and immediate acoustic album. There are often synths backing tracks such as ASPHALT, but they are artfully deployed to never overwhelm the central song, or even be easily identifiable. ‘(23)…’ is an astonishingly well constructed record, by far the best of Elora’s career, and one that deserves far more recognition but needs no more additions.

So, it’s my sad duty to inform you that Elora is a fucking arsehole and I hate them. Sent this all the way back in October!:

To which Elora replied with…

NOTHING! Motherfucker didn’t say shit! I know you were one of those ten losers who read the message, so at least tell me to fuck off! I’m only asking that you at least add descriptions of the songs to your Bandcamp or something, give us freaks something to go o…

Oh shit. Did Elora add these after I asked, or… were they always there…? So me asking for a track -by-track guide would have been pretty… dumb…?

…

…

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*blows referees’ whistle*

2020 #21 (as Metagirl FKA Aqua Girl), 2018 #19 (as Aqua Girl)

Aw, they’re actually dropping ever so slightly with each album!! Still, a career total of three (solo) records, all on Necessary Evil, you know what that means:

Legit Bosses: 1