ELI fits the pieces together on Full Form

London indie artist ELI released her debut EP Full Form last November. The four-song release is an intricate project that displays her mastery when it comes to songwriting and production. Not afraid to experiment with sound and production, Full Form begins to take on new meanings with each listen. The project was influenced by soul, trip-hop, and electronic sounds, working in tandem to create something fresh.

ELI creates an elaborate sonic landscape that reflects the lyrical content of Full Form. On “Promises,” she takes on the frustrations of being misled, on a personal and social level, singing “Save all your promises for another life.” The song’s beat creates a sense of expectation, while the syncopated claps introduce an element of surprise. Using manipulated vocals on “Do You Love,” ELI creates a layer of mystery, adding to the doubt that surrounds a relationship. By the time we arrive at “Sin,” a track that ELI dedicated to those feeling alienated, we are fully immersed in her world.

In our Q&A with the alternative artist, we talk beginnings, piecing together the EP, genre-bending, and more. Read it below!

You grew up listening to afrobeats, afro-jazz, and gospel, and later got into rock and metal. When did you start writing music?

I’ve always been drawn to melodies and beatmaking. Growing up in a musical household, we had a Yamaha keyboard on which you could record up to 5 tracks, and I would come home from school every day and build songs on it. I must’ve been about 8-10 years old at the time, but it was the highlight of my day. I was consumed by music as a child. Singing in every talent show, playing in bands, and taking piano and guitar lessons. I never did anything else. 

We are digging your EP Full Form! Musically, it pulls from genres such as trip-hop, soul, and alternative. Are there any other genres that you’d like to explore?

I love genre-bending and would love to dip into Nu-Metal, Pop, and Dance at some point. I would love to work with Dean Blunt, Mall Grab, and Nia Archives if the opportunity arose.

You merge different sounds to create a unique style and turn Full Form into a fully cohesive work. How did you get to the point of trusting your voice as an artist?

It’s taken a lot of developing and being honest with myself to get Full Form out into the world. You really have to trust your gut instinct as art is subjective. If you love what you do, others will see that and connect with what you create. Music is a multi-dimensional space to me and I want to explore as many facets as I possibly can in my lifetime.

Your first single “Lover” was released back in 2021. How has your sound evolved since then?

My music has definitely become a lot more introspective. I try to make sure people are inquisitive when listening to my songs. On the surface, it seems approachable but you’re left with a desire to dig a little deeper and peel back the layers sonically the more you listen. The more music I make the more questions I have about myself and the universe and I like to channel that into my productions and push the boundaries of my creativity.

The EP starts with “Promises,” a song about being lured into something that ends up being false, and ends with “Sin,” a song about being a misfit. How did you approach the tracklisting?

Full Form is a non-linear project. It’s an enigmatic puzzle of my approach to internal conflict resolution. It was a means of guiding me through a series of non-chronological events that happened in my life that resulted in me finding the core of who I am. Reflecting over hypothetical situations, thoughts, feelings, disasters, emotions, escapisms, and drama. Not only lyrically but musically. From the slow build in “Sin”’ representing drawn-out suppression; to the cowbell conducive to Pavlov's conditioning experiment that drops into a boisterous chanting chorus when the desires have finally been met which conveys the act and effect of sinning. It all pieces together like parts of a circle rather than a tracklist.

We read that you self-produced the EP in your bedroom. What were some of the challenges in creating Full Form? What are your feelings on having completed this project?

Full Form took about 6-9 months to make from initial concept to final masters. It was a labour of love that really helped build up my technical proficiency as a producer and songwriter. I’ve learned so much about my creative process from recording and mixing to taking bolder risks with my experimentation. I believe in the ethos of it’s not what you have but what you do with it and luckily live in a time where most production and songwriting tools are available on a laptop and DAW so I can lock in and just get on with it.

The most difficult part of songwriting is probably deciding when a song is done. I demoed each track a few times and they came a long way from how they sounded in the beginning, but eventually, you have to step away for a month or so and then come back and listen almost as a stranger to fully know whether a song is done yet. If you can enjoyably listen to a song you've made and think “That sits so right to me” then it probably does.

I’m so happy with the EP but like with anything, I’m always planning what’s next. I do try to sit and bask in it now and again because for everyone else it’s only been a couple of months but for me, it’s been well over a year. I just put out the music video to 'Sin' and that was so well received it makes me more excited for things to come.

What can we look for in 2024?

More music and lots more live shows so keep a lookout, I might just pop up in your city.

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Full Form is out now and can be purchased at Bandcamp. Follow ELI on Facebook & Instagram.

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