If you’ve been following this blog for a while now you’ll know that I am an avid fan and supporter of Eli Moon. His sensational vocals, stellar production and compelling lyricisms have enthralled me consistently to the point where every time he releases new music I feel a giddy excitement building up within me that I cannot contain until I’ve listened to it. He’s the future of the UK R&B scene and the more music he releases the more I find that statement rings true.
Today he’s released a new EP titled Angels, Devils and Empty Vessels and, as expected, it’s easily one of the best projects to come out in 2020. Every track is perfectly placed and expertly produced to create a swirling euphonic sound that I know I’ll have on repeat for many months to come. It’s everything I loved about his earlier music but it’s been expanded sonically to create a whole new soundscape for us all to explore together.
Speaking about the EP Eli Moon had this to say, “‘Angels, Devils & Empty Vessels’ is about me attempting to find my place in the world. The songs, written in the period post Bodies EP…portray the different phases of life that I was experiencing. We begin the EP with feelings of detachment, loneliness and regret in Stasis, which quickly transition into desire for change. After living through two polar-opposite alter egos, the fast pace of the London nightlife and my hedonistic, irresponsible lifestyle had caught up to me. I found myself at a turning point; was I going to be consumed by the dark underbelly of the city or rise high above the temptation and allow some light into my life? That’s where we reach ‘Bigger Than Us.’ As humans we search for a feeling of belonging; that feeling of being connected to something that has a higher purpose than what is imaginable. That’s something I had lost for a while, so in creating this song I was exploring the duality of good vs evil and the potential existence of God. ‘Pray’ is an expression of my perspective on society. It is me looking at human behaviour under a microscope. Having become so disgusted with myself, I wanted to work out how I had got to that point. In doing so, I was able to see how we live in a world designed for us to think that we have control, so that those in power can maintain their own control over us. My previous work to date has been often a very introspective analysis of my own self, and of course there is a lot of that in this EP. However, this EP is more than just about me; it’s about human behaviour, human connection and about pushing boundaries. Each song is completely different, yet individually they combine to make something singular and if we all learned to accept each other’s individuality, the end result (society) would be a much stronger and harmonious place.”
Stasis opens up the EP with an incredibly personal track to Moon with it being about how his own self destructive behaviour lead to his life becoming stagnated which is expertly express through his poetic lyrics and passionate vocal performance. It introduces you to his sound and shows you the ride you’re about to be taken on through this EP. Phases comes in next where the star of the track is undeniably Moon’s evocative vocal performance as he manages to convey so much through his impassioned style which makes the poignant lyricisms feel all the more raw and real in away that is unmatched within this genre.
Bigger Than Us is the most interesting piece poetically as it discusses how Moon has an ongoing conflict with god and the devil as he says, “The biggest thing to note, which is very reflective of my life at the time, is that both the relationship with God and The Devil are attractive to me, and that my fate lies in the hands of whichever one can deliver me to my end goals fastest.” It’s human nature to have this conflict and our own morality comes into question but it’s rare you’ll see an artist dive into such a subject within their own music but Moon wears his heart on his sleeve and remains open throughout in a truly gorgeous fashion.
Then we move onto the final track Pray and, to put it quite simply, this is the cherry on top of the whole project. It showcases everything that makes Eli Moon one of the best artists coming out of the UK scene right now and is the perfect end to this hypnotic project. Overall if you haven’t heard of Eli Moon yet then you need to dive into his discography ASAP to experience something truly otherworldly.