If you’ve encountered a major label, you’ll know that their artists can often find themselves having to cut through a forest of songwriting sessions, events, release planning, internal competition, politics and promo pitching that makes The Trial look a breeze. Naturally, this means they’re not always the greatest environment for artistic expression. Elsa Carmona may not have had any of the issues listed above in her previous life as a major label artist, but in any case she felt it wasn’t a place for her to be productive creatively, so she dropped out. Two years down the line, she’s spent some time figuring out what kind of artist she wants to be, and now she’s ready to deliver that to the world. The latest part of that delivery is new single X-Lover.
And the creative vision she brewed during that time has emerged as dark, cinematic art-pop. Maybe it’s something subliminal called up by the echoing bells of the chorus, but there’s something almost ceremonial and sacramental about the whole thing, and the song’s capacity to soar and sound like it’s bigger than anything this world can hold gives it an enormous power. And that sense of ceremony sits in the song’s theme too, in its exorcism of a past relationship. Elsa Carmona‘s X-Lover is out now on Feverish and you can catch the exclusive premiere of its majestic music video right here on yours truly.
Every Monday we’re updating the 50-track-strong Listen AHEAD Playlist on Spotify, adding ten strong songs by sill relatively unknown artists at the beginning. This week’s new picks also include fresh songs from Hello Ocean, Me Not You, Avalanche Party, HMLTD, Sailing Stones and more. Follow the playlist right here on Spotify and give these new talents a chance.