It’s 2020 and ELI sounds more up-to-date than ever. After plenty of sessions, the 21-year-old Cologne native with the international sound returns from the studio to show he can do a lot more than singer-songwriter tracks. More club sound, more urban, more bass-driven and with a whole new level of punch!
ELI represents a variety of facets: Edgy urban pop, even a fine dose of rap here and there, and intrinsic classic songwriting qualities – ELI delivers the full package that every producer wants to work with. One of his producers puts it in a nutshell: “ELIs’ strength is that you believe him immediately.” Tru dat! Listening to ELIs’ voice just for a few seconds makes you understand that nobody’s bending over backward here, or making radio compatible songs just for the sake of it. This guy sings because he has to – because he simply cannot not sing.
ELI dropped his second single of 2020 on April 10 – which is the focus track – emphasizing his claim to create a sound that can stir worldwide attention. Together with the production team YouGuys, the 21-year-old from Cologne once again has created a song that sticks immediately and brings the balance between deep emotion and easy listening to perfection, while effortlessly keeping up with the big names. ‘Ghosts‘ is about a failed relationship and a person that, even after breaking up, continues to stick around like a ghost. With ‘Ghosts’ as well as his previously released track ‘Sad‘, ELI proves that in pop, friction is a good thing – and that a sound not too sleek hits people straight where it’s aimed at: the heart.
ELI started banging on his drum set at three, wrote his first songs at ten, and tried everything from piano to violin in between – sometimes to his parents’ detriment. But it wasn’t until he discovered the guitar that his passion became certainty: I will be a musician. Somehow a logical consequence, knowing that his mother, an actress and musical performer, hid her pregnancy at first and continued to be on stage regularly. There’s probably no other choice for those, who hear the audience’s applause already in their mother’s womb.
Ten years later, ELI has not only made his dream come true, but has impressive successes under his belt as well – for example with songs like ‘Change Your Mind’, which, among other things, was picked as the theme of a massive ad campaign. More than 50 million streams on Spotify for this track alone speak for themselves.
ELI in the year 2020 is edgy and rough pop with great emotion, which doesn’t wrap us in cotton wool but offers quite a bit of friction as well. And it’s the friction that creates a connection between listener and artist, which makes an artist a star.
