How do you feel about winning the Taite Music Award? If you're Vera Ellen, by releasing a surprise new EP.
Wellington-based singer-songwriter shared today Heartbroken due to jet lagthe six-track collection is a proper DIY project, entirely self-recorded, mixed, and mastered in Ellen's bedroom.
According to Ellen, she had to go back to basics to feel her music again.
“To keep myself sane, I have to work like I used to, hunched over my laptop with sticky keys, socks over my mix, and the most vulnerable person in the bedroom. “I made it up when I wanted to, and from beginning to end, I never touched anything but my hands,” she says.
“None of these songs were meant to be shared outside of a few close people. But each one helped me get through heavy emotions and come out the other side. Even in your worst moments. May they be a source of comfort. That's what makes my life worth experiencing.”
I remember Karen O's transition from the raucous indie rock of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to her lovingly acoustic and underrated debut solo album. crash songa song she personally wrote and recorded, Ellen is Painfully Vulnerable Heartbroken due to jet lag.
However, this isn't an entirely solo effort, as Oli Devlin, from Aotearoa indie-pop favorite Hans Paquette, provides a gentle vocal that complements Ellen's voice on the beautiful ballad 'danger i'.
This is a quietly moving follow-up to her 2023 album ideal household noiseShe won the 2024 Taite Music Award despite facing stiff competition from the likes of , Ernie Bell, Dick Move and Tiny Ruins.
Rolling Stone Australia/New Zealand When I contacted Ellen immediately after winning, she revealed that she was “still in shock.”
“You know how people pretend to be shocked when they secretly know? No, I literally didn't know. I just sat there when the nominees were being announced. , I remember feeling so happy and thinking, “Look at all the great candidates I have with me.” And when my name was called, she was honestly still really shocked,” she said.
ideal household noise It was ranked number 3 on the Best New Zealand Albums of 2023 list.
“Vera Ellen is a performer with an exciting swagger, belting out rolling, rolling indie rock anthems that make you want to chase the person who wrote them to the ends of the earth,” we wrote.
“…Some artists at this stage in their careers would die for just one potential sing-along anthem like 'Homewrecker,' but Vera has several others, notably 'Imposter' and 'Carpenter.' And the latter of these tracks is a magnificent feat of songwriting and range, the album's epic centerpiece.”
Ellen's next tour is a tour of New Zealand with Boom and Reb Fountain, starting in Christchurch on May 30th, with stops in Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland (ticket information here).
Vera Ellen's Jet Lag Heartbreak EP has been released on Flying Nun Records.