Ever-compelling Nashville artist Elke has never shied away from her gut instinct. Also a poet, it’s guided her through introspection and honesty with every piece she’s put out since unveiling the moniker. As beautifully displayed in her last release, the 2022 EP My Human Experience, the uniquely expressive musician has masterfully evaded falling into any industry-fashioned box while also gracefully sidestepping any one musical comparison. Built on a framework of ethereal, emotional language, and held together by her massive, playful vocal range — she’s proven beyond a doubt she’s well versed in the art of idiosyncrasy. And it’s not only something we can see side-by-side other artists but across Elke’s own projects as she’s pushed her own sound, uncovering new inspirations and references.
Today, Elke continues to surprise us in her murky, magical way and announced her sophomore album, Divine Urge. The album is set for release on Oct. 25 via Congrats Records. Alongside the announcement, she’s offered us its lead single “Enchanté” and a tactile, enigmatic music video for the song, directed by Bérénice Bear Eveno with creative direction by AJ Gibboney and production by Quinlyn Ulysses.
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The single sees Elke opening the gates to yet another complex sonic landscape, marked by intricate psychological pathways. While her last release tackled wiry narratives both corporeal and in the brain’s dark crevices, her charged new dance-punk track “Enchanté” takes us through a different kinetic vessel — nature. It’s heavy, bass thumping like a heartbeat against Elke’s spoken words, eventually reaching a coda, and erupting in addictively unruly energy. Not unlike her live performances, there’s an audacious and experimental feel to the song. It surges, seductive lyrics cracking like a rhythmic whip that’s beckoning to the dance floor.
The video itself unfurls one of the Elke throughlines, the feeling of being alive — what it means, and what it feels like.
Of the project’s debut music video, Elke explains, “Nature works together with what’s fighting against it without the opponent knowing. It finds a way to keep growing by adapting. This is why no matter how much we develop as a society, we will always have to return to nature. It is wiser than us and cannot be controlled. Sometimes we as people wish to possess the earth to feel alive, but nature teaches us the opposite — to just be alive is to possess the nature inside us. I play different characters in the video that resemble the duality of humans, technology, and nature.”
Co-produced by Elke and her close friend Jake McMullen and featuring Zac Farro (Paramore) on drums, the new album continues to reveal the array of influences Elke has pocketed, poems she’s penned, and music she’s followed her gut toward, and made. Tapping old-school doo-wop, 2000s pop, prog-rock, and more, the dizzying, powerful “Enchanté” is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. This is an LP bursting with life, dirt, death, and love.
