Started as the lo-fi bedroom project of Hamburg-based musician and filmmaker Erik Hamann, with musical roots embedded in the Hardcore and Punk scene, elkks is focused on raw and left-field approaches to the broad spectrum of emo music, such as Black Metal, Indie Folk, Post-Punk and Electronica, gradually evolving and taking shape from the collection of haunting lo-fi vignettes in the tradition of Mt Eerie, Okkervil River, and early Bright Eyes of his first 2019 EP, “Conifer Hell”, to the current soundscapes of heartbreak and nostalgia, atmospherics and distortion, with subtle melodic flair.
elkks features the vocals and editing talents of the German-Brazilian musician and longtime collaborator Gloria de Oliveira in the lyric video for “It Matches Mine”, the lead single of his debut full-length album, “Dawn Heart Dawn”, out now via fellow Hamburg-based label LA DOUBLE VIE!
The beautifully organic and emotional folk tune, “It Matches Mine” unfurls a stirring male/female vocal interplay between ellks’ raw melancholic angst and Gloria’s downcast angelic cries, richly shining over skeletal and sparkling threads of light ringing acoustic guitar strums, interspersed with fragile soars of quivering and squeaking distorted frequencies, to perfectly capture the distraught intimacy and bitter regret of a relationship’s last breath.
The lyric visuals, edited by Gloria de Oliveira, fuse found footage from the devastating 1988 Yellowstone National Park fires with evocative handwritten lyrics to sync with the extreme emotions of the soundtrack. A lonely cabin in the woods sits vulnerable against plumes of oppressive smoke from raging wildfires whilst herds of elk graze unto peaks of sunlight, appearing as hope, after the destruction.
ellks‘s debut album, “Dawn Heart Dawn”, is out now via Berlin and Hamburg-based label La Double Vie! Find it on all streaming platforms and soon on limited edition 12″ vinyl.
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