Ellur is a Vessel for her Emotions on the Stunning New Track ‘Now I’m Alone’

Halifax-born singer-songwriter Ellur has steadily amassed a following over the past few years for her 90s-influenced pop, oscillating between the colourfully upbeat and emotionally cathartic. And yet, she has never sounded more heartfelt than on her latest single, ‘Now I’m Alone’, a gorgeous meditation on feeling alienated from yourself.

The Yorkshire native’s rich vocals prove versatile, blending as seamlessly with the new track’s stripped piano backing as she did on a previous release, the pop-rock zinger ‘Moments’.

The ballad’s delicate and echoey production amplifies its air of isolation and vulnerability. The scene sketched out is visceral, one of late-night mental wrestling and a-few-drinks-deep confusion and regret.

For a track ostensibly about a breakup, ‘Now I’m Alone’ is, at its core, a glimpse into a fragile mind. Ellur’s voice has an air of flightiness, a lack of grounding that complements the tortured lyrics: “What do I do now I’m alone? / Without you I’m somebody I don’t know”.

When she sings, “And I’m on my knees begging for love”, it is not a specific lost lover she seems to be searching for, but some profound source of self-escape, and, as with all acutely expressive music, ‘Now I’m Alone’ doesn’t try to resolve the feelings it presents.

It’s a song with its finger on an exact emotional pulse, a disarmingly precise depiction of what it feels like to dwell hopelessly in sadness. The 21-year-old singer clearly has a knack for capturing an unresolved, raw portrait of deep feeling.

At one memorable moment in the track, the production distorts as if taking a sharp intake of breath before Ellur breathes out the word “home”. Her intensity of expression here is a feat in itself, making the single world sound like an act of choking, like a heart lodged in a throat.

‘Now I’m Alone’ is a vulnerable, beautifully, and brutally sincere exercise in self-scrutiny. It shows Ellur’s range as an artist and promises a deft, profound honesty that makes her an exciting new talent to watch.

 

 

Eleanor Burleigh 

@eleanoranneb 

Image: ‘Now I’m Alone’ Official Single Cover