Ela has earned a promising following since relocating from San Francisco to the state capital of Texas and musical hub Austin. She calls upon an assortment of influences in her music, but the lineage for her latest single “Light It Up” is pretty clear cut. This well crafted dance/edm track has a near orchestrated flair – it doesn’t show its cards all at once but, instead, rises from the group up.
The bass and drums starting things off have a live sound rather than electronically generated. The verses possess a relentless hard-charging quality, steady without ever overwhelming listeners and the arrangement only really lets off the gas pedal when things slow and grow more expansive around and during the song’s chorus.
Ela has a voice capable of realizing the challenges containing within each passage. She brings a sense of stakes even to the lightest hearted material thanks to the natural emotive edge she wields with her singing. The highlight of her performance comes with the aforementioned chorus. Ela gives emphatic effort towards urging listeners to carry out the song’s title. It’s a song I can picture a packed club or concert crowd responding to every note and word.
It has a simple message. There’s no need for intricacies here. Songs like this are embedded almost as deep as tunes about girls and fast cars, but Ela finds a plot in that tradition she can claim as her own thanks to the rugged individualism driving her performance. The rough hewn naturalness of her voice may sound like an ill-conceived alliance with a largely electronic backing,
The synthesizers used on the song are never overbearing. Ela and her creative partners understand what and how much space such instruments should occupy in her music and the near perfect balance we hear in “Light It Up” provides just a little added gloss on an already bright gem. The percussive and get on your feet and move quality of the song’s lyrics are ideal for the single and you can’t help but admire how much she makes of them and how her pinpoint phrasing ups their impact.
I-TUNES: https://music.apple.com/us/album/light-it-up-radio-edit-single/1468206312
Ela’s “Light It Up” is just the sort of single with a chance of pushing her budding career into another gear. It has an inspired and first take level of spontaneity surrounding it certain to connect with a wide swath of listeners. Her move from San Francisco to Austin has proven wise. Placing herself in a music world where daring and idiosyncrasies are celebrated and acts of every stripe challenge one another to write and perform the best possible songs has informed her ascent from newcomer to blossoming music artist.
“Light It Up” may prove to be that moment I mentioned earlier and it will be an appropriate reward for a young performer who took the necessary risks, and pushed aside any vulnerabilities in hopes of realizing a dream. However, aspiring artists take note – the most crucial quality contribution to the success of this song is the hard work and discipline Ela has relied to bring her this far.
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ElaBornToShine
Kim Muncie