Fueled by a sordid real-life backdrop of good old fashioned suicides,
murders, and alcoholic depravity followed by church on Sunday, Elouise
is an eccentric collaboration of Los Angeles-based musicians who came
together to create an ominous, raw and cinematic genre of music they
identify as Blackgrass. It is the sound of sin and salvation mixed in a
dark cocktail with a taste of Bluegrass, a black symphonic sound and
weary emotional vocals that tell original tales of struggle and
re-imagine songs from our collective Americana consciousness.
Using
a mix of Classical and Bluegrass instrumentation combined with an array
of eclectic instruments including the marxophone, six-string banjo,
bandoneon and harmonium, Elouise layers their sound with dark and
beautifully dramatic European strings like the cello and double bass.
This idea of low end drone and virtuosic strings combined with sounds
from traditional Bluegrass instrumentation is the signature sound of
Elouise and Blackgrass. Add in world-weary and guttural vocals paired
with instruments like the bandoneon (which produces one of the saddest
sounds imaginable) and you get a musical experience that captures a
distinctly original, emotionally fraught and unforgettable sound.
Deep Water: A Collection of Songs and Recitations is the debut album from Elouise. A bold, unsettling collection of Blackgrass music recorded in the living room of a 1920’s ramshackle hacienda tucked away in the California foothills. The thirteen tracks on Deep Water showcase the range and expression of Elouise’s depression and madness -- there is some fucked up and exquisite music in here. Give it a listen. (Street date 7/15/2016)
elouisemusic.com
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