Getting To Know...
ELDR.
Singer-songwriter and composer ELDR has just released her sophomore EP HÖLY STRANGER. HÖLY STRANGER continues the broad and ethereal guise she first introduced herself with. Channelling her raw and adventurous approach to production and songwriting, her newest collection looks to add the next vibrant chapter in her ever-growing catalogue, cementing her as one of the more exciting new names emerging right now.
Serving as the EP’s opening track, ‘Weak Potion’ perfectly illustrates the bold and mesmerising direction ELDR explores on this new release. With its dense and atmospheric textures dancing around her own otherworldly vocals throughout, she sets an incredibly vivid tone that matches the explorative ideals we have already heard from her in the lead up to this new collection.
We had a chat with ELDR all about HÖLY STRANGER, her influences, creative process and more. Read the Q&A below.
Hi! How are you? What does a typical day look like for you at the moment?
"I’m great thanks, thank you for your questions. My life is a kind of managed chaos at the moment! I try to get up as close to 6.30am so I have a sacred hour before my son wakes up, and then it all kicks off. Once I’ve coerced him to go to nursery, I try and pack as much music focused activity in as possible. Right now I’m working on the visuals for promotion around my new EP HÖLY STRANGER, some new tracks, and a live show for the EP launch."
For anyone discovering you here for the first time please give us a bit of background on your musical journey. Who/what have been the biggest influences on your sound and aesthetic?
"ELDR (pronounced ‘elder’) is a shorthand for my last name. It draws on the idea of a figure with access to some higher knowledge, or healing power to serve the wider community. I’ve been playing music as long as I remember- before ELDR I dabbled in a bit of everything from electronic stuff to lo-fi guitar fuzz, and I also compose film soundtracks. Music has always been a source of healing for me and it has got me through some very dark times, so now I tell these stories through my lyrics in the hope that anyone else dealing with their own demons can find some catharsis in the songs.
"Influence wise I was forever altered listening to artists like PJ Harvey, Nirvana, Warpaint and Cat Power. Some people liken my sound to a mix of Portishead, and Bjork too, can’t say no to that! The aesthetic world around my music definitely matters- the alchemy of sound and visuals can be so powerful so it’s all a holistic package in my mind. My imagery uses hints of ritualism and occult symbology. I adore the film work of John Cassavettes, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and designers like Thierry Mugler. Filming the ‘Spinning Tops’ video on 16mm and the Höly Stranger promo on 35mm was a nod to the cinema poets who I love. My collaborators have a big impact on my aesthetics too- Luisa Clauss is an incredible photographer who I’ve worked with a lot recently, and the visionary costumes of Matahari Devi feature in my last two visual pieces. My partner Philip James McGoldrick is also a very poetic film maker who directed the video for 'Friends', and very much shaped the seductive madness in it!"
You've just released your aforementioned second EP Höly Stranger. What can you tell us about the record and what do you hope listeners take away from it?
"My first EP Defender is quite a reflective and ethereal collection of tracks. With the new tracks, it was really exciting to try something a bit more raw and frenetic, with a percussive driving energy. HÖLY STRANGER is in many ways a spiritual record, dealing with love, grief, mental demons and the perils of devotion. The songs emerged from a confusing period in my life where I found myself deeply in love with a coercive, religious fundamentalist, prone to psychotic rages who believed it was the end of the world. So I think this record is about the fragility that each of us quietly carries, and the desire to rise above self-destructive tendencies. Fundamentally, it’s a call to realise your power and find your own truth."
Please take us through your songwriting/creative process. What do you enjoy the most and what do you find the most challenging?
"Songwriting to me is an intangible and intuitive process, you can’t force it. It’s impossible to know how and why a song emerges, but you just have to be there to capture it before it leaves you. The song 'Blind Deities' literally poured into me while I was cooking one night, and I couldn’t believe it, it was quite euphoric. Other times trying different instruments can help inspire ideas- I wrote 'Friends' in Poland one xmas on an autoharp that my partner’s family had just given me. The different tuning definitely opened things up musically. The more challenging aspects can be the responsibility of then recording each song properly, and promoting it once it exists. I think the most important part of that process is to not over think it, or try to perfect things so much that the work looses the original spark of energy that got you excited in the first place. In terms of promotion, I know so many artists who find the social media circus excruciating, and I can sympathise! But I’ve tried the other version where you lock yourself away in a cave hoping things will happen organically, and you just end up perpetually sending your music into a void. I decided to embrace the beast of talking about what I’m doing, because ultimately everything is forgotten anyway so why not dare to live the life you really want during this brief spell on earth?"
Finally, what else is next for you? Any shows coming up? Any other musical or non-musical endeavours?
"I’m very open to the next chapter ahead, and it’s a big unknown in truth! I’ll be playing a live EP launch show with a full band later in Spring, and will have more live shows around the UK coming later in the year. I’m also working on the next collection of tracks, which are taking form as we speak. Other than that, I’d like to officially announce my DIY reality show “ELDR:TV” will be launching soon on a US web series platform! (For anyone who doesn’t know, ELDR:TV is a behind the scenes series that follows my journey as a musician and a new mother in these strange times)."
Photo credit: Luisa Clauss