It’s 2020 and ELI sounds more up-to-date than ever. After plenty of sessions, the 21-year-old Cologne native with the international sound returns from the studio to show he can do a lot more than singer-songwriter tracks. More club sound, more urban, more bass-driven and with a whole new level of punch! “SAD” drops March 13, kicking off a string of releases hurtling towards old and new fans as much as they’re coming for ELI himself. Because making music has never felt as exciting and right for him as it feels with these brand-new tracks.
ELI represents a variety of facets: Edgy urban pop, even a fine dose of rap here and there, and intrinsic classic songwriting qualities – ELI delivers the full package that every producer wants to work with. One of his producers puts it in a nutshell: “ELIs’ strength is that you believe him immediately.” Trudat! Listening to ELIs’ voice just for a few seconds makes you understand that nobody’s bending over backward here, or making radio compatible songs just for the sake of it. This guy sings because he has to – because he simply cannot not sing.
Hardly surprising –after all, ELI started banging on his drum set at three, wrote his first songs at ten, and tried everything from piano to violin in between –sometimes to his parents’ detriment. But it wasn’t until he discovered the guitar that his passion became certainty: I will be a musician. Somehow a logical consequence, knowing that his mother, an actress and musical performer, hid her pregnancy at first and continued to be on stage regularly. There’s probably no other choice for those, who hear the audience’s applause already in their mother’s womb.
Ten years later, ELI has not only made his dream come true, but has impressive successes under his belt as well – for example with songs like “Change Your Mind”, which, among other things, was picked as the theme of a massive ad campaign. More than 50 million streams for this track alone speak for themselves. After a while on the family label –which he founded with his father, a concert promoter, taking up all positions himself – it felt right to take the next step and sign with a major label. Together with production teams like Tuva or YouGuys, he created songs that will raise him to the next level. Not just the current single “SAD”, but also “GHOSTS” as well as the tracks ELI still got up his sleeve are contemporary, outstanding pop songs that don’t have to shy away from international comparison.
ELI in the year 2020 is edgy and rough pop with great emotion, which doesn’t wrap us in cotton wool but offers quite a bit of friction as well. And it’s the friction that creates a connection between listener and artist, which makes an artist a star.
