ELIO Releases 'CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW' EP

Fresh off her Zane Lowe World Premiere on Apple Music 1 Radio for "CHARGER," ELIO releases her anticipated EP Can You Hear Me Now. Earlier singles included "Jackie Onassis," which premiered via The FADER, and "hurts 2 hate somebody" featuring a video directed by ELIO and her pals SunsetSahil and Oliver Whitfield-Smith.

Sonically, Can You Hear Me Now exists in the sweet spot between dreamy bedroom pop, bold synthwave, and heart-on-your-sleeve indie. The EP begins with the low spirits/high energy of "Jackie Onassis," an electro romp that also appears on "CHARGER" and "When U Saw Love." On the downtempo side you find tracks like "hurts 2 hate somebody" and "Come Round," the former a schoolyard chant and the latter a bedroom ballad pinched tightly through Autotune. And though certainly indebted to its synths, Can You... also features moments of indie simplicity, from the guitar strumming in "@elio.irl" to the fully acoustic closer "Fabric," where ELIO's voice is on full display.

Can You Hear Me Now exists within the ubiquitous and unique emotions of the modern condition, each one explored and expanded upon by ELIO's sharp eye. In her observations, misplaced technology becomes a tether to one's crush ("CHARGER") and FaceTime are not just luxuries but lifelines for modern relationships ("in real life"). Though lyrically moody and even bleak at times, the music boasts a glossy sheen that makes such topics much easier to digest, or at least live with.

A statement from ELIO on her latest project: "I feel like writing this EP has been such a journey for me. The oldest song and the EP closer 'Fabric' was written when I was 21, so two years ago now. At the time I was working a part-time job and was really quite depressed with where I was at, it felt like everyone was moving faster than me and I was standing still.' Hurts 2 Hate Somebody' is me looking back at that now at 23, realizing that nobody is responsible for the happiness in your life and resentment is such a dead end way to justify your unhappiness.

"'Jackie Onassis' kind of combines these two feelings of wanting to do what you want and f everyone who disagrees and then knowing what that boundary is and when you're living selfishly - there's definitely a balance, which i guess is a great way to describe this EP. Finding balance in my life and my happiness, and my music. 'CHARGER' was a bit of a stepping stone to that. I always thought writing a song that was detached from personal experiences was meaningless but when I wrote 'CHARGER' it was just a fun song that is now one of my favs. I think it's nice that I can have the Fabrics and @elio.irl's as well as the CHARGERs."

ELIO began writing songs when she moved to Canada from Wales as a child and retreated to her bedroom, teaching herself to write, record and produce her own music. A fierce statement of intent, her debut EP u and me, but mostly me arrived in Summer 2020 as an astute snapshot of her universe as an artist and as a young woman; moving, growing, and learning, trying to keep up with the fast-paced world around her. The EP found fans in i-D, FADER, NME, Popjustice, Line of Best Fit, Clash, Sunday Times Culture, the Guardian and more at press, as well as Travis Mills at Beats 1 for radio, and has received strong playlist support at Spotify and Apple Music globally. ELIO's winning streak continued into the fall with well-received singles "Jackie Onassis" and "hurts 2 hate somebody" for her newest EP Can You Hear Me Now. At the same time, her songwriting talents led her to the world of K-Pop with a writing credit on TXT's "We Lost the Summer."

At just 23, ELIO, aka Charlotte Grace Victoria, is a master of her craft, producing intricately detailed songs from her bedroom, which speak to her generation and their shared experience of loneliness, often played out for strangers to follow online. Straight out of the gate, she has proved herself to be one of the most exciting artists to watch in the new decade.

Listen here:

Photo Credit: Charlotte Grace Victoria

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