Meet ELUNIA, from New Hampshire, USA. The upcoming electro-alt-pop artist gives us a run for our money when it comes to her raw, honest emotional tracks. Her latest single “Pressure Points” draws on her experiences of dealing with mental health and the light in her support. The track speaks of the worry of losing the person who gave you hope and helped you see the positives when wading through the waves of mental health struggles. The track has a constant, haunting piano with an electro glaze, the bubbling beat is soft and moves into delayed, echoing claps, while the production stays minimalistic yet holds complexity in its journey across the soundscape, as it introduces a crying electric guitar and eerie backing vocals.
“Pressure Points” is off of her upcoming EP, DEEP END. Elunia takes listeners on her journey through life, exploring both the ups and downs. Each song is a representation of phases in her life, as Deep End progresses, the listener follows the path of her finding her purpose, from the bullying, finding people who accept her and for the first time in her life and finding true peace with her identity. The entirety of DEEP END is a wash of alt-electro-pop with truly spellbinding moments and haunting vocals that relay the realities of life both good and bad.
Let’s talk about your single “Pressure Points.” How would you describe it in three words?
Vulnerable, soaring, fluid.
How have you found the response to the track to be so far?
The response to “Pressure Points,” and all of the music in general, has been incredible. What amazes me is how the lyrics have resonated with people. I have a lot of in-depth conversations with supporters, and they’ve told me stories about how they’ve felt isolated, or like all hope is lost, and how the music makes them feel less alone. That is the most rewarding thing to hear as an artist – these kinds of connections are what make this crazy music thing worth doing.
“Pressure Points” is off of your new EP, DEEP END. You have said “Pressure Points” is your favourite track off the EP; what makes it stand out from the others for you?
I think because it’s the most “me,” and it came about in the most effortless, organic way. I love soundscapes that are draped in melancholy and mystery. I sat down at the piano in the middle of summer with birds singing and these dark, dreamlike chords flowed out, the melodies shaped themselves so easily, and the lyrics finally put something into words that I hadn’t yet managed to articulate – something so close to me that I needed to write about. It was all sort of pulled out of the unconscious, and I think a bit of that magic managed to seep into the final production.
Can you spill any beans about some of the other tracks?
The first track, “The Cycle,” talks openly about my experiences as a victim of bullying over the years. I was psychologically manipulated to feel like everything I said and did was “wrong” and I wasn’t worthy of being included or even acknowledged, which made me self-conscious to the point of paranoia. This was an exhausting pattern that repeated over and over again in multiple situations in my life. The song’s production and structure are more experimental than any other track I’ve created.
Another track, “Tunnels,” is based on an analogy about social anxiety that dawned on me. It felt like I was standing on the ground, and there were all of these tunnels underneath my feet that I couldn’t see that other people were walking through, meeting in, laughing in, but I was always missing out. So many things were happening that I was never a part of, and so I would hear about them in snippets and feel too innocent, inexperienced, even inept. I pretended not to care, since I didn’t want to participate – but in reality, I cared so much it hurt. If it were based on lyrics alone, this would be my favorite track on the EP. I feel a lump in my throat even now when I read the lyrics.
DEEP END is a five-track collection of all things ELUNIA. Is there a journey through the EP, and if so how would you want listeners to experience this EP?
DEEP END centers around the idea of conformity vs. individuality while struggling with mental health, and my journey moving from one mindset to the other. With each song as the EP progresses, the listener follows my path to finding a feeling of purpose, from the growing pains of oppressive social situations to discovering people and experiences where I felt wholly accepted, and for the first time, at peace, with my own identity.
A unique way to experience the EP would be to listen throughout your own daily journey. Start in movement, start in a crowd, sitting and walking alone and observing others around you. Listen to them. Feel the connection or disconnection. Then, find an experience that gives you your own fulfillment, like it was made just for you and no one else. And when you return home, feel present in the silence and your own company, even if just for one night.
This last year has seen your music and career reach new heights. What’s changed for you since releasing your single “Pressure Points”?
I think all of the important changes have been internal. The music industry is such an intimidating realm to enter, and it can be exhausting, so I’ve been trying to devote my focus solely to the things that match up with my artistic vision as I begin work on the next batch of music. It’s so much easier to breathe if I remember why I started doing this in the first place. I’ve also been appreciating my surroundings a lot more – I live in the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire, USA, and I’ve found that nature does a lot of good for my mental health.
Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations, and how do they impact and infuse into your work?
Lorde is one for sure. I remember being on a train when I was first starting to properly write songs and listening to Pure Heroine for the first time, and writing the lyrics to a song almost until completion. I would read her lyrics, over-analyze them, and imagine the stories that they contained, which fed my own stories. I think her music fed my drive to swim against the stream with my lyrical style.
Broods are another one. I’ve always been inspired by the way they blend electronic sounds with an excess of emotion so seamlessly, and that’s something that I strive to do. As a producer, SOHN is so inspiring to me because of the way he creates dynamics with sound. I can listen to one song of his an infinite number of times and still notice new details. That element of precision is always in the back of my mind when working on production.
What does music mean to you? You write about personal moments and show us your vulnerable side through your lyrics and emotion; is music a healing process/tool for you?
For me, music is like a camera. I bottle up an experience, express it in a form larger than myself, and then I have a picture. When I look at the picture rather than the memory itself, it makes everything less painful, and more significant – like maybe the reason it happened was so that the picture could be taken and it could become art. This process is indescribably cathartic, and has definitely saved me from spiraling into a dark place many times.
Lastly, as a beacon of inspiration, if you could give any advice for anyone struggling with self-worth and confidence, what would it be?
I think the key to confidence is being able to understand who you, as a beautifully unique individual, truly are at your core. Don’t try to be someone else. If you don’t know who you are, then create yourself from scratch, like an artist would create a work. Just decide and be resilient – stick with it no matter what others think. Everything else will come naturally after that.
Give “Pressure Points” a listen below and for more information on ELUNIA, give her page a like on Facebook or follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
