Lucy Elle explores heartbreak to find peace of silence

BELLARINE singer-songwriter Lucy Elle has unveiled her debut solo EP ‘Silent Side of Quiet’, an album that details a culmination of twisted heartbreak tales from her early twenties.

Silent Side of Quiet, which was recorded, produced and mixed by Jono Steer (Ainslie Wills, Gretta Ray, Gordi and Angie McMahon), explores grief and the associated silent sides of the feeling, while also reflecting on the processes that unlock perspective and clarity within.

Upon publishing her first EP, Elle details that the album is a build-up of years of work, with various genres and styles targeted to covey the moments of grief in each track.

 

She alludes to ‘quiet’ often being perceived as walking away from a crowd or falling asleep, rather than when the world goes quiet, and you are alone and just listening to your thoughts.

“Quiet can be a deafening time and it takes time to sit and untangle the crossed-wires and confusion of regret, pain, joy, love, aches and the nostalgic melancholy to finally find the peace of silence,” Elle said.

“The songs on Silent Side of Quiet are ballads that echo the process of grief and are songs from the process of me making sense of the tangle of noise in the quiet.

“They are songs about heartbreak, my friend’s breakups, fighting with my family and losing close friends.

“Most of these songs mean more than one thing to me, and they will mean something else to other people.

“I hope that the songs on the new album are balm rather than salt on wounds, where I hope I can help listeners find the silent side of quiet.”

One of the songs on the new EP titled ‘Loveliest’, is a song that explores the notions of grief and gratitude, where one can create a space to hold the painful and the beautiful all at one.

The 25-year-old says the song came to her one afternoon while sitting at her piano, as the verses and choruses start to finish poured out of her.

“This was one of those songs that wrote itself really,” Elle said.

“I wrote the whole song in one take sitting down at my piano one autumn afternoon and the song just poured out of me, verses and choruses all in order start to finish.

“I left it on my phone and forgot about it for a year or two but then found it on my phone again and it meant something completely new.

“Woven into this is the pain I felt losing a close friendship and the story of being iced out.

“No relationship comes without a cost, you can count the cost, but you can’t control it.

“This song is about costly relationships, cold shoulders, precious regret and fond memories.”

Elle alludes to the debut album so far being nothing short of exciting, and the Bellarine up and comer has already had her praises sung by many in the music industry.

 

Dave Ruby Howe from triple j Unearthed said that ‘Lucy keeps this one brooding to match the moody song title”.

“There’s an understated drama to it and she never over-sells, focusing more on building that overcast mood.”

Music lovers have even said “vocals are run reminiscent of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s Shallow” in her haunting single Shadows.

Elle documents her music influences thrive from her parents, who love the blues rasp of Simon and Garfunkel, Eva Cassidy and James Taylor.

She also notes Brooke Fraser, John Mayer and Maddison Cunningham have been huge inspirations, detailing their ability to experiment with many musical elements has been a key catalyst for her style.

“I love how these artists experiment with so many musical elements and writes a lot of stories about other people, I’ve learnt a lot from that,” Elle said.

“They have such beautiful musical layers, with great bluesy riffs and lead guitar, a direction I more see my music going down in the future.”

Elle said she thrives on playing in smaller settings and hopes she can continue to do so.

She notes that a tighter room is more intimate where honesty can be shown to the audience, a place where she feels most comfortable.

“I find that I can be more honest and tell a story when the crowd is more intimate,” Elle said.

“To me, songs are a way to process, and also a way to empathise.

“I find you can craft a fictional story in a song, but you can’t fake the emotion behind it, so it’s always good to show that to the audience and to really relate and connect in that aspect.”

 

Elle’s next show at Analogue Academy in Geelong is already sold out, however keep an eye out for new dates.

You can find ‘Silent Side of Quiet’ on all streaming sites, but can also stay up-to-date with Elle’s work by following her Instagram and Facebook.