Recommended Tracks: “Give You Everything”, “You”, “Nothing Yet”
Artists You May Like: The 1975, The Beths, beabadoobee
For Australian indie rockers Eliza & The Delusionals, 2020 was off to a great start. The band had an international hit on their hands with “Just Exist,” which hit #1 on the SiriusXM Alt Nation charts and accumulated over 5 million streams worldwide. Additionally, they went on a North American tour with Silversun Pickups right before releasing their sophomore EP, A State of Living in an Objective Reality. When covid-19 derailed their tour and festival plans for the spring of that year, they decided to do the next best thing: work on new music. After releasing a few singles and hitting the road again last year with The VANNS, Eliza & The Delusionals are slowly getting back to normal, picking right back up where they left off. Giving fans new music in time for their upcoming gig at Bottlerock at the end of the month, the band is dropping their debut album, Now and Then, which releases all of the emotions they have kept to themselves these last couple of years.
Each track that is presented on the album brings up small frustrations that can arise when in relationships. On the effervescent “Give You Everything,” for instance, Eliza sings, “I know that it’s hard to give you everything you want,” eventually concluding that she had to give up this person because of the impossible demands. There is also the moody and intimate “All the Time,” which finds Eliza in a similar predicament, admitting, “I can’t be all the time.” Despite these strong feelings, though, it can be hard to drop everything and leave. With “You,” we hear, “It’s been so hard to watch you falling apart,” but Eliza also reveals, “And maybe I want you,” suggesting that she will stick around. This notion comes through again on “Get a Hold of You,” where she sings, “You’re stuck in your ways / And I’m stuck in my room / I can’t help but think of ways to get a hold of you,” acknowledging that she still cares.
The potency of these moments on the album is due to the strong songwriting of Eliza and her bandmate Kurt, who can balance the productions of the songs with equally impressive lyrics. Instead of shying away from honesty, they choose to embrace the idea of being open, even if they do not have everything figured out. On tracks like “Halloween,” we learn, “I’m not sure how to fix this anyway / But we can fix this now,” the willingness to try do something coming through. There is also “Nothing Yet,” where Eliza sings, “I don’t know what I need / Thinking this must be the place / But I’m only just 23” and “I can’t see / That maybe something’s wrong with me,” letting us know that she does not have all of the answers just yet. By being so vulnerable, Eliza & The Delusionals encourage more people to do so, as we all have complex feelings and thoughts that need to be expressed at times.
Along with the lyrics, Eliza & The Delusionals are just as expressive with their music. Most of the songs have a nostalgic, indie pop feel, like we hear on “Give You Everything” or “Lonely.” The band has this sound down so well, but they are also able to give us alt-rock-inspired songs like “Bed Song,” which show a tougher side of them. Every track comes together, however, with Eliza’s dynamic vocals, as she can switch up her vocals from light and airy to rich and melodic one verse to the next.
When speaking about the album, Eliza mentioned that it “was the best thing to come out of the pandemic” for the band, and this comes across on the songs. We hear such dreamy and uplifting music to offset some of the heavier themes on the album, making it a complete look at the complicated nature of people. Overall, Now And Then celebrates how normal it is to get caught up in confusing or disparaging situations every now and then, but proves that something great can still came from all of the uncertainty.
You can listen to Now and Then on platforms like Spotify, SoundCloud, and Apple Music.
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