It is true to say, I hadn’t noticed Leon Else until he branched out into the electronic pop genre in 2017 with the track “What I Won’t Do.” Around the time of the release, it was hinted that an EP might be forthcoming, but it hasn’t been until recent months that I have seen any evidence of it arriving on the horizon. Instead, the singer returned in April this year with the lyrically, poignant track “Change Up.” A steady flow of similarly poignant new songs has been filtering out ever since. Leon has been independently releasing these new tracks, but it is latest in the run “Couldn’t Do It” which has really, caught my ear.
What I love most about the new track is that the lyrics are candid, raw and honest. The lyrics of “Couldn’t Do It” exposes the messy aftermath of drinking too much booze and what led up to the sticky situation, Leon is singing about. Where we find out, he’s in that weird, post, break-up place between still caught in his feelings after being dumped while making an attempt to move on. A few tots of liquor are not exactly helping matters in the way he was hoping for. There’s a little more work to be done yet, in fading the memories of his ex before he can properly, move on. Boo, all he wanted was to have some fun. He ended up feeling guilt-ridden and with a thumping headache, instead.
The track is different, from the usual maudlin pop ballads, where a singer’s latest heartache, is poured out, on a grandiose scale. In a change from the norm of soaring falsettos and powerful long-held notes. Are swapped out for Leon’s soulfully teetering voice, and a bright, wonky pop melody. Drawing a comparison, I am saying, it takes a leaf from the style which has been more recently popularized by Lauv track “fuck, i’m lonely.”
I applaud Leon Else for his unbridled honesty in the making of this song. And because he’s used more woo’s, in the verses of this one track than you’ll find on an entire Kim Petras EP.
Connect with Leon Else
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Twitter: @LeonElse
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