"When the rubber hits the road / Will I fold? / And when I grow old / Will I leave gracefully? / Will I leave tastefully? / I don’t think so / I’m gonna need this life ripped away from me..."
The trembling existential threat and acquiescence of "Tell Me I'll Be Ok" by diverse L.A. indie band Elle Belle, led by award-winning composer and songwriter Christopher Pappas, feels less like a song and more like powerful bloodletting in the quietly dark corners of your head. I appreciate the tactileness of the nylon guitar strings being plucked, the fanned strings that swell like a big orchestra, the stacked vocals, exquisitely intimate feeling like a wash of intersecting feelings full of a lot of common feelings maybe about regrets, about wrong turns and objects of the heart not taken, not swallowed whole and mabye about death itself and what that even means. I am loving the electric guitar too that feels very Western pop noir, the atmospheres are both beautiful and forlorn asking questions just like the lyrical content.
The entire emotional timbre of the song also could (does) feel like the theme of an A24 film where things are not as they seem. This is to say that there is (or could be) a kind of horror element but in a touching way. This track kept had me going to a place where spirits think they are people still earthbound and what that would entail or maybe the realization that you yourself are stuck and both alive and both a ghost. Maybe the combinations psychically, emotionally, metaphorically are too numerous to mention. I know one thing, this evocative song likely hits me harder than it would have 10 years ago, a function of not growing old but already being old (wink).
LYRICS
Will I fold?
And when I grow old
Will I leave gracefully?
Will I leave tastefully?
I don’t think so
I’m gonna need this life ripped away from me
There’s a ghost in my attic
and I’m scared its me
When you clock out tonight
did you write
the great american novel
or did you grovel?
Saying “Please somebody make me special ‘cuz for hell it ain’t gonna be me.”
There’s a ghost in my attic and I think it’s me
Tell me I’ll be ok
It sounds different when you say it
Something about the sound of your voice
When you clock out tonight
did you write?
written, performed and produced/mixed by: Christopher Pappas
-Robb Donker Curtius
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
[Fans can join Elle Belle’s Patreon to access exclusive content, including songwriting sessions and early music previews.]
[Pappas grew up in rural New Hampshire, where he started the band The Everyday Visuals. After relocating to Boston, the band began to amass a cult-like following of fellow musicians and fans attracted to Pappas' penchant for vocal harmonies and catchy left-of-center songwriting. He moved to Los Angeles in 2010, where he met Pierre de Reeder, bassist for the venerable L.A. band Rilo Kiley, and signed to his label Little Record Company that year.]
[Catch the band live the first Sunday of each month at The Fable in Eagle Rock, L.A.]
The Chicken Wheel will take you to the AP Go Fund Me- and any amount is so appreciated!
https://www.youtube.com/@ellebelleband
https://ellebellenosignal.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ellebelleband/
https://www.patreon.com/ellebellemusic
Elle Belle is the alter-ego of award winning composer/songwriter Christopher Pappas. His debut album WAKO GUMBO, a sprawling 20 song double LP, was released in 2016 to critical acclaim followed by his sophomore album No Signal that received 4 stars from All Music who called him “a swaggering experimental pop maverick with a penchant for spacy electro-organic psychedelia and an overflowing bag of big ideas.”
“Thinly cloaked as his views may be, Pappas offers a fresh take on the nation's social climate while also expanding his sonic territory.” - Timothy Monger for All Music
Pappas grew up in rural New Hampshire. After relocating to Boston the band began to amass a cult-like following of fellow musicians and fans who were attracted to Pappas’ penchant for vocal harmonies and catchy left-of-center songwriting. He moved to Los Angeles in 2010 where he met Pierre de Reeder, bassist for the venerable L.A. band Rilo Kiley. Pappas released a solo record under the name Miracle Parade on Pierre’s newly founded label Little Record Company. While recording the second record he suffered a creative breakdown, leading him to abandon the record and create Elle Belle.
Mixed with a variety of genres; psych-rock, prog, electronic, Elle Belle continues Pappas’ knack for rich, intricate songwriting. He has written music for NASA, composing the soundtracks for the Juno and Rosetta mission official docu-series. He also composed an award winning musical (“Pope! An Epic Musical”) with the Wall Street Journal praising it, proclaiming “[Pope!] is proof that the musical [genre] isn’t dead!” He is also a prolific writer, churning out 2 T.V. pilots and a new full length horror feature that are currently in pre-production. His dense and eclectic catalogue is why many consider Pappas as one of America’s most prolific and captivating under-the-radar artists.
The Chicken Wheel will take you to the AP Go Fund Me- and any amount is so appreciated!
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.youtube.com/@ellebelleband
https://ellebellenosignal.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ellebelleband/
https://www.patreon.com/ellebellemusic
Elle Belle is the alter-ego of award winning composer/songwriter Christopher Pappas. His debut album WAKO GUMBO, a sprawling 20 song double LP, was released in 2016 to critical acclaim followed by his sophomore album No Signal that received 4 stars from All Music who called him “a swaggering experimental pop maverick with a penchant for spacy electro-organic psychedelia and an overflowing bag of big ideas.”
“Thinly cloaked as his views may be, Pappas offers a fresh take on the nation's social climate while also expanding his sonic territory.” - Timothy Monger for All Music
Pappas grew up in rural New Hampshire. After relocating to Boston the band began to amass a cult-like following of fellow musicians and fans who were attracted to Pappas’ penchant for vocal harmonies and catchy left-of-center songwriting. He moved to Los Angeles in 2010 where he met Pierre de Reeder, bassist for the venerable L.A. band Rilo Kiley. Pappas released a solo record under the name Miracle Parade on Pierre’s newly founded label Little Record Company. While recording the second record he suffered a creative breakdown, leading him to abandon the record and create Elle Belle.
Mixed with a variety of genres; psych-rock, prog, electronic, Elle Belle continues Pappas’ knack for rich, intricate songwriting. He has written music for NASA, composing the soundtracks for the Juno and Rosetta mission official docu-series. He also composed an award winning musical (“Pope! An Epic Musical”) with the Wall Street Journal praising it, proclaiming “[Pope!] is proof that the musical [genre] isn’t dead!” He is also a prolific writer, churning out 2 T.V. pilots and a new full length horror feature that are currently in pre-production. His dense and eclectic catalogue is why many consider Pappas as one of America’s most prolific and captivating under-the-radar artists.
Elle Belle, indie pop, indie rock, soft rock, led by singer songwriter / frontman Christopher Pappas, confessional storytelling, "Tell Me I'll Be Ok", off Broadway, dream theater, personal stories, award winning composer,
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