Artists aren’t greater than people who don’t create art. They simply have the ability to get to the very bottom of things, to pick up on what’s really important, to see through a thick smoke through which most others cannot.
While that sounds magical, it’s also worth noting that it doesn’t always work this easily. Paul Cezanne considered each brush stroke. Leonard Cohen would spend years on songs thinking of the right word. Kate Bush, Fiona Apple or Tool would disappear for years in between releasing albums. Harper Lee took more than half a century between releasing new writing.
That’s just one of the reasons why Kayla Elise’s “Your Melody” is a special, innocent piece of music. Elise manages to set sights on what truly moves the world, namely love. “Your Melody” feels written on the spot, while chasing this ghost of an idea, the image of a perfect love affair. The songwriter puts herself at the centre of this whirlwind. As a result, the song feels like an exploration of the unknown in which we are allowed to partake.
What else makes this special is the fact that this sounds DYI and entirely lo-fi. It’s an artist writing and recording music as naturally as sending an e-mail. And, in a world that seems less and less concerned with beauty and meaning, the way that Elise engages with the sublime feels special.
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