ELI SMART Releases 'Aloha Soul' EP

Rising singer-songwriter Eli Smart has released his new EP, Aloha Soul. Hailing from the Hawaiian island of Kauai, he was raised by a family of musicians and grew up on a diet of soul legends such as Gladys Knight, Jimi Hendrix, Prince and The Beatles. Smart moved to Liverpool in his late teens and has since made The UK his second home.

The confluence of the two cultures are evident in his songcraft found across the EP which is out via Geffen Records. To celebrate the release Smart will play at The Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles on December 6.

The EPs recent single "See Through," championed by NME, is a mix of scuzzy guitar solos and Eli's now trademark falsetto, underpinned by an irresistibly jangly rhythm section that shuffles you straight back to memories of sunshine. Also appearing on the EP are two gorgeous singles "AM to PM", "B-Side," and "Cry At The Comedy", a raucous surf pop anthem that has been a mainstay at late night BBC Radio 1.

In Hawaiian culture, there is the phrase kani ka pila - the invitation to jam together in your backyard. Its essence is rooted to the Hawaiian spirit itself: the way that music and its easy sense of community are irrevocably bound together. There might be two or three guitars, a scattering of ukuleles, a homemade washtub pakini bass, and someone on spoons to hold down the rhythm - a spontaneous, freeform blend of instruments until the small hours of the morning. This is the energy Eli Smart seeks to capture on Aloha Soul.

"It was a weird combination of escaping through music, while hopefully addressing some s through it," Eli explains of the EP. Converting his childhood bedroom into a studio, he invited Mercury Prize winning producer Gianluca Buccellati (Arlo Parks, Lana Del Rey, Biig Piig) to help bring these five sketches to life - the first time he had ever collaborated with a professional.

In a suspended reality, they fell into a sleepy, blissful routine of waking up, making their way to a friend's bakery (where Eli has a bagel named after him), and begin writing songs together. The only interruptions were interludes to jump in the water and surf, Eli's twin passion: another way to escape the lethargic, circular rhythms of the day-to-day.

Together, Eli and Gianluca worked to blend today's technology with an analogue mentality. They weren't interested in producing immaculate sounds, but rather chased the timeworn crackles, an instrument's whims, the rasp of Eli's voice. It lends his music a quality that is altogether timeless, beholden to no single era, and yet evocative of all of them. Between rhythmic guitar and sugar-coated melodies, largely indebted to Eli's adoration of The Beatles, you will also hear the sounds of Hawaii itself: falsetto harmonies, lap steel guitars, slide guitars and ukulele.

Eli rose to prominence early last year with the release of his debut EP Boonie Town in early 2021, four glorious tracks that showcased Smart's irresistible, sun-dappled vision. From the gorgeously sweet bitter tang of lead track "Come Down" to the doo-wop swagger of "No Destination"; the twinkling falsetto croons on the irrepressibly lovestruck anthem-in-waiting "Highschool Steady" to last year's "Cruella Deville", which became a sleeper smash on radio and won him fans in the likes of Clara Amfo, Elton John, Greg James, Adele Roberts, Gemma Bradley and more.

Through his musical journey, Smart continues to create his own wildly colorful musical world.

Listen to the new single here: