The staggering beauty of "if i ask" by Brooklyn based opera singer, baroque pop indie artist, composer Elly Kace interweaves narratives that surprise, that subvert expectations. Like an indie film that feels dark and imposing, not signalling the time period the story takes place or if the slowly turning opaqueness will reveal a horror motif or a bright light, Kace's sonic arc truly surprises and thusly turns your head as the song's lighter style shifts cascades on your face. As I listen I am mesmerized by the subtleness of emotionality, fluttering guitar strings and bends, rolling orchestrations. Where there once was vocals and stuttering tense strings that feel gothic and quite frankly, kind of witchy like a folk fable, the song shifts effortlessly into an iteration of transformative chamber pop meets post rock.
Kudos to Elly Kace's evocative vocal countenance and self aware original storytelling eschewing the indie tropes of the day and bravo to the virtuoso musical talents of Jack Broza on guitar, Darian Donovan Thomas on violin, Allison Philips on flugelhorn and the anchoring rhythm section of Aaron Edgcomb on drums and Isaac Levien on bass.
About this track, Kace shares: “if I ask ” is about a group of teenage girls taking selfies by the lake. “The impulse to capture the ephemeral is a deep, warm, ancient sensation that still exists today” she says. “I am particularly enamored with our impulses to capture our own likeness, when we feel our own beauty from within our spines so potently we reach for a way to capture it. As though it will keep us immortal. I strive to feel that self celebration as much as I can as a way of reclaiming my femininity on my own terms”
It is funny. Over the 15 years I have been discovering / curating music on American Pancake my brain feels like it is overflowing with data, with artful content, sometimes a blessing and sometimes, well, you know. As I write about music as such a potent artform I tend to write less about the ins and outs of a piece of music and more about the duality of the artform of it's both ephemeral and timeless nature. Great songs leave emotional fingerprints everywhere and connective tissue bridging our experiences, enhancing them as soundtracks or as swinging baubles that hypnotize us, opening us up to become better people.
For me, "if i ask" has a complex blend of emotional textures maybe pulled from baroque pop, bits of new age, psychedelic rock, folk and alt rock stardust as strewn across many decades. For whatever reason I thought of other artists / songs that also subvert expectations, below are just a few.
Bat For Lashes - The Dream of Delphi (2024)
Portishead - Wandering Star (1994)
Carpenters' foray into psychedelic space pop their cover of Klaatu's Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (1977)
Dip, no deep dive into Elly Kace's "If i ask". I think it will take you places especially if you give it all your attention. I have listened, experienced it on repeat with closed cup headphones and it casts dreamy imagery in my head and, at some key moments, causes goosebumps to skate gingerly across my skin.
"if i ask" is my first glimpse of Elly Kace's upcoming self produced EP "if i ask enough could you love me" due to release on December 1, 2024.
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://www.instagram.com/ellykacemusic/
https://www.tiktok.com/@ZMRPjwJQo
https://www.facebook.com/ellykacemusic
https://x.com/EllyKace
Rooted in the community-building power of music, Brooklyn based singer and composer Elly Kace loosened the grip on her acclaimed opera career during lockdown, taking an unconventional leap into composition and production. Enhancing her voice through dense layering and electronic effects, experimenting with synthesizers, drum machines and sound healing instruments, she began to build a sound that could seamlessly oscillate between classical and mainstream musical textures.
This resulted in her debut pop album, Nothing I see means anything, a densely conceptual and boundary-pushing collection of songs that explored her meditative, introspective, and danceable side. But with her latest full-length, Object Permanence, her songs have become deeply personal and yearning. It’s an encapsulation of her ceaseless willingness to be pushed to new creative heights, all while excavating her grief and turning it into something healing and stunning.
Kace has been singing professionally since age 6 appearing with artists including Bobby McFerrin, Theaster Gates, Celine Dion, David Foster in venues such as National Sawdust, Ravinia, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Her voice has been featured in multiple movies and tv shows, including the feature films “The Farewell”, “Goodnight Mommy” (Naomi Watts), “Maestro” (Bradley Cooper), and “Expats” (Nicole Kidman).
Her creative efforts have already included major talents such as Ziyad Asrar (Whitney), Will Miller (Resavoir and Whitney), Jay Rudolph (Weyes Blood), Colin Croom (Twin Peaks), Alex Weston (The Farewell, Expats), Franky Rousseau and Dominic Mekky (Chris Thile, Emma Frank), Jack Broza (Forager), Isaac Levien (Altus), Aaron Edgcomb (CLAK), Erika Dohi, Macie Stewart, Lia Kohl, and more.
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/ellykacemusic/
https://www.tiktok.com/@ZMRPjwJQo
https://www.facebook.com/ellykacemusic
https://x.com/EllyKace
Rooted in the community-building power of music, Brooklyn based singer and composer Elly Kace loosened the grip on her acclaimed opera career during lockdown, taking an unconventional leap into composition and production. Enhancing her voice through dense layering and electronic effects, experimenting with synthesizers, drum machines and sound healing instruments, she began to build a sound that could seamlessly oscillate between classical and mainstream musical textures.
This resulted in her debut pop album, Nothing I see means anything, a densely conceptual and boundary-pushing collection of songs that explored her meditative, introspective, and danceable side. But with her latest full-length, Object Permanence, her songs have become deeply personal and yearning. It’s an encapsulation of her ceaseless willingness to be pushed to new creative heights, all while excavating her grief and turning it into something healing and stunning.
Kace has been singing professionally since age 6 appearing with artists including Bobby McFerrin, Theaster Gates, Celine Dion, David Foster in venues such as National Sawdust, Ravinia, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Her voice has been featured in multiple movies and tv shows, including the feature films “The Farewell”, “Goodnight Mommy” (Naomi Watts), “Maestro” (Bradley Cooper), and “Expats” (Nicole Kidman).
Her creative efforts have already included major talents such as Ziyad Asrar (Whitney), Will Miller (Resavoir and Whitney), Jay Rudolph (Weyes Blood), Colin Croom (Twin Peaks), Alex Weston (The Farewell, Expats), Franky Rousseau and Dominic Mekky (Chris Thile, Emma Frank), Jack Broza (Forager), Isaac Levien (Altus), Aaron Edgcomb (CLAK), Erika Dohi, Macie Stewart, Lia Kohl, and more.
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