With House of Tongues, New York's Elk City re-invent the seductive sophistication of 1970's FM radio pop - but never shy away from their formidable rock power.
The striking blend of rock, folk, soul and jazz on their newest release separates Elk City from their peers in terms of ambition and expertise. Not since the brilliant American Music Club has a popular band so fully metabolized this range of influences to such masterful effect. The band shows its strength with elegance and ease on House of Tongues.
Singer Renée LoBue's muscular pipes are ripped and ready to carry the torch. Her melodic songwriting filled with a bracing, confessional vulnerability. LoBue possesses one of her generations most versatile and distinctive voices, alongside the likes of Regina Spektor and The National's Matt Berninger. Her songs are a veritable transit rail from the intoxications of 1960's Bay Area psychedelia to the smoky Parisian outposts which might once have hosted Nina Simone.
LoBue is well-matched with guitarist Sean Eden, who joined Elk City soon after the break-up of the legendary Luna. Eden's performance on House of Tongues may well constitute his finest on record. Certainly his identity as a player has never been cast in bolder relief. Eden expresses and withholds his playing in a manner perfectly reflecting the hope and anxiety of LoBue's lyrics. His playing is conversationally forthcoming yet willfully oblique. Eden extracts reservoirs of emotion from tracks like "Jerks On Ice" and he tears the cover off the closing moments of "Wire Goats" - a galvanic piece recalling mid-period David Bowie, with a vocal turn from LoBue evoking the effervescent readings of Brian Ferry.
Producer/drummer Ray Ketchem's agile focus crops in on LoBue and Eden but is perfectly vignetted by new keyboardist, Carl Baggaley. Baggaley's facile transition from barnstorming barrelhouse rhythm playing to sophisticated, jazz informed digressions expands Elk City's already impressive range. In addition, Ketchem's propulsive drumming provides the drive for tracks like "Real Low Riders", which evolves from a minor key verse ala Sonic Youth into a major rave up befitting the best of Blondie.
The international-timeline song "Nine O'Clock In France" finds LoBue dreaming of a night out in Paris from a very New York perspective. "Revelry won't wait!", exclaims LoBue on the track, and you'll want to join her for cocktails as the chorus unfolds.
The conspicuous cover art for House of Tongues was created by American contemporary artist Brian Dettmer. Using a Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities from 1937, Dettmer sculpted his unique interpretation of the splendorous architecture of Elk City's music.
House of Tongues is indeed an act of architecture, each song building on the next with a runaway momentum culminating, finally, in one of music's great catharses. If there is a central moment, it would be "The Onion", a song which finds LoBue reading along with the famous lampoon as she simultaneously strips away the layers of artifice from her being. "I finally have the courage to look into the mirror and stand up for my life..."
And here, over the course of five minutes and 37 seconds, a seminal artist reveals her essence and her brilliance, abetted by great band at the peak of their power.
http://elkcity.net
Melody
Elk City Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I'm talking on the phone.
You creep up and won't let go.
Whisper something I don't know.
Oh, I know I'm crazy to brush you aside.
Oh, I know I'm crazy cause you get me by.
Find me when I'm lying in bed.
Ask me if I'll dance with you.
Ask me if I'll hum your tune.
Oh, I know I'm crazy to brush you aside.
Oh, I know I'm crazy cause you get me by.
Melody.
Leave me alone.
Out of my head.
Will you go me home?
But you won't.
How you get me by everyday.
How you always show me the way.
I know you will come again.
It's only a matter of when.
Oh, I know I'm crazy to brush you aside.
Oh, I know I'm crazy cause you get me by.
Melody.
Leave me alone.
Out of my head.
Will you go me home?
But you won't.
The lyrics of Elk City's song Melody paint a picture of a haunting presence that constantly lingers in the singer's mind. The constant repetition of the phrase "you get me by" in the chorus suggests that the melody is something that the singer feels compelled to keep listening to, even though she knows it might not be the healthiest thing for her. The lyrics describe how the melody "creeps up and won't let go" even when she is driving alone or talking on the phone.
The singer seemingly tries to resist the melody's pull, admitting that she knows she's "crazy to brush you aside" but also acknowledging how it "goes to [her] head" and "find[s her] when [she's] lying in bed." The song's repetition of these phrases creates a sense of haunting, as if the melody is a specter that constantly follows the singer wherever she goes.
The final lines of the song lend an air of desperation to the lyrics, as the singer pleads with the melody to "leave [her] alone" and "go [her] home." Despite her pleas, she knows that the melody won't go away, and she resigns herself to the fact that it will always come back.
Overall, Elk City's Melody is a powerful depiction of the allure of music and its ability to pull one in, even when they know it may not be in their best interest.
Line by Line Meaning
When I'm driving all alone.
Despite being alone, the melody haunts me.
When I'm talking on the phone.
Even when I'm preoccupied, the melody persists.
You creep up and won't let go.
The melody lingers and won't leave me be.
Whisper something I don't know.
The melody is elusive and mysterious.
Oh, I know I'm crazy to brush you aside.
Ignoring the melody seems foolish, but I try to resist its allure.
Oh, and how you go to my head.
The melody impacts me deeply and emotionally.
Find me when I'm lying in bed.
Even in my most vulnerable moments, the melody persists.
Ask me if I'll dance with you.
The melody beckons me to move and engage with it.
Ask me if I'll hum your tune.
The melody invites me to participate and create with it.
Melody.
The persistent and captivating tune.
Leave me alone.
As much as I try to resist, I don't want to be consumed by the melody.
Out of my head.
I want to break away and be free from the melody's hold over me.
Will you go me home?
The melody is always present and follows me wherever I go.
But you won't.
Despite my attempts, the melody won't leave me alone.
How you get me by everyday.
The melody affects me on a daily basis, even when I try to ignore it.
How you always show me the way.
The melody serves as a guide, leading me down an unpredictable path.
I know you will come again.
The melody will always resurface, tempting me once more.
It's only a matter of when.
The melody's return is inevitable, and I can only wait for its next appearance.
Contributed by Charlie C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Owseymusic
Thanks for using my music mate! The track is called "Owsey - Thousands of Summer Twilights." Appreciate it!
@blndrr
Owseymusic is this the first time, the music artists comments on an edit?
@hydro_avi
Owseymusic it’s a banging song tbf
@TheMakoEdits
Such a nice song !
@KZETER
Good song!
@madty5048
I love this song
@Luminalmvm
OCC 300 has really shown how incredible editors have become, so many of the best from the last few years entering, all showing off styles they have mastered is awe inspiring. Amazing edit.
@Defiants
When we look back on this in 5 years it’s going to be nostalgic as hell.
@Defiants
Already 2 years later and this is nostalgic as hell. Times flies
@TearfulVFX
@@Defiants Every time I remember the CoD era I always come back to SALT & and this one among some others. It's been 10 years since I got into CoD now and some of these edits keep impressing me like the first time I watched them