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Track by Track:
Elmo Aoyama - Spells
Elmo Aoyama - Spells
On her debut solo EP Spells, Elmo Aoyama leaves the sunny jangles of Big White behind, in favour of cool synths and bold electronic production. To celebrate its release today, we had Elmo walk us through the EP track by track.
Although Elmo Aoyama has been known previously for her contributions on bass and keys for Sydney’s Big White, her revitalised synth-pop project sees her foraging her own path. Her new EP Spells was self-recorded at her Blue Mountains home all the way back in 2017 and, after abandoning the project due to a few busy years, it’s now seeing its full release in 2020 (via Dinosaur City Records and Geertruida in Europe/U.K.)
The songs that make up Spells reflect on events significant and insignificant to Aoyama, exploring themes of love, life, death, loss and politics. The coolness of the production evokes the influence of The Knife, particularly on opening song ‘Summertime’ featured on the Stay Inside Compilation earlier this year and its inclusion on this EP is worthy. Aoyama leads us hesitantly into the song, before an unexpected pounding percussive beat takes over, her voice emanating from behind a dreamy veil.
The title track ‘Spells’ soothes with its delicate presence, all liquid synths and breathy singing. Aoyama’s vocals dribble over the production throughout but the smooth resonance of her singing on this track recalls the silky R&B of Jessie Ware, no mean feat. Towards the end of the song, her voice finally rises: “I’ll see you in my dreams.”
‘21’ was the final single and it packs a fearsome punch. Powerful drums clash with twinkling synths, as she cleverly and intricately sings from two different perspectives, in Japanese and English. Its rhythm is electric, energetic, and implants itself in one’s mind effortlessly. Despite continually swapping between languages, the lines flow together enigmatically as they recount a faltering friendship, translating to: “when I turned 20 / something changed / the bell of loneliness rang 20 times / with 20 people / I battled / when I was 20 in the city”.
It’s a buzzy and involving record, showcasing the flexibility of the synth-pop sound. Hot and cold, atsui and samui. We caught up Aoyama to delve deeper into each track on Spells, which you can read below.
The songs that make up Spells reflect on events significant and insignificant to Aoyama, exploring themes of love, life, death, loss and politics. The coolness of the production evokes the influence of The Knife, particularly on opening song ‘Summertime’ featured on the Stay Inside Compilation earlier this year and its inclusion on this EP is worthy. Aoyama leads us hesitantly into the song, before an unexpected pounding percussive beat takes over, her voice emanating from behind a dreamy veil.
The title track ‘Spells’ soothes with its delicate presence, all liquid synths and breathy singing. Aoyama’s vocals dribble over the production throughout but the smooth resonance of her singing on this track recalls the silky R&B of Jessie Ware, no mean feat. Towards the end of the song, her voice finally rises: “I’ll see you in my dreams.”
‘21’ was the final single and it packs a fearsome punch. Powerful drums clash with twinkling synths, as she cleverly and intricately sings from two different perspectives, in Japanese and English. Its rhythm is electric, energetic, and implants itself in one’s mind effortlessly. Despite continually swapping between languages, the lines flow together enigmatically as they recount a faltering friendship, translating to: “when I turned 20 / something changed / the bell of loneliness rang 20 times / with 20 people / I battled / when I was 20 in the city”.
It’s a buzzy and involving record, showcasing the flexibility of the synth-pop sound. Hot and cold, atsui and samui. We caught up Aoyama to delve deeper into each track on Spells, which you can read below.
Summertime
Written on a bus in Cyprus after a long swim in the warm ocean. Earlier that day, we slept in hotel sun loungers and swam at a private beach before getting kicked out. We jumped on another bus and wandered along the sand trying to find a slice of the beach that wasn’t private. When we finally found a patch of public sand, our friends appeared out of nowhere, unannounced and completely by coincidence.
Spells
This used to be two songs but they were combined to make one. Certain lines in this song take me right back to specific moments. Once I put 'I Give A Gonski' signs all over our front fence using string. After being rained on for months and the string beginning to disintegrate, one of my housemates finally took them down.
Life
Written while working a cloak room shift at Oxford Art Factory. I cloaked anything people asked me to cloak, the most memorable one was an Uncle Tetsu’s Cheesecake. Another time someone cloaked a karaoke mic which they gifted it to me as they were kicked out. I used that karaoke mic to record scratch vocals before disposing of it.
21
This song is about a friend I used to have. It was written in a time of my life when strangers would approach me in various shops and ask me if I worked there.
Atsui
Strangely, this one was completely recorded using my computer. All of the synths are software synths and the vocals were recorded using the computer mic. Even the solo was musically typed using the laptop keyboard. I always meant to re-record it and do proper vocal takes but ended up leaving it as is.
Written on a bus in Cyprus after a long swim in the warm ocean. Earlier that day, we slept in hotel sun loungers and swam at a private beach before getting kicked out. We jumped on another bus and wandered along the sand trying to find a slice of the beach that wasn’t private. When we finally found a patch of public sand, our friends appeared out of nowhere, unannounced and completely by coincidence.
Spells
This used to be two songs but they were combined to make one. Certain lines in this song take me right back to specific moments. Once I put 'I Give A Gonski' signs all over our front fence using string. After being rained on for months and the string beginning to disintegrate, one of my housemates finally took them down.
Life
Written while working a cloak room shift at Oxford Art Factory. I cloaked anything people asked me to cloak, the most memorable one was an Uncle Tetsu’s Cheesecake. Another time someone cloaked a karaoke mic which they gifted it to me as they were kicked out. I used that karaoke mic to record scratch vocals before disposing of it.
21
This song is about a friend I used to have. It was written in a time of my life when strangers would approach me in various shops and ask me if I worked there.
Atsui
Strangely, this one was completely recorded using my computer. All of the synths are software synths and the vocals were recorded using the computer mic. Even the solo was musically typed using the laptop keyboard. I always meant to re-record it and do proper vocal takes but ended up leaving it as is.
Spells is out today in all the usual places via Dinosaur City Records.
