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From her raw yet bold music to the visual world around it, meg elsier is introducing us to an album that is uniquely, entirely hers. With new track ‘oldnews’ out today, and the full-length ‘spittake’ to follow, read and listen with our latest Hype playlist cover feature.
Words: Stephen Ackroyd.
Photos: Jacqueline Justice.
Emerging from the vibrant streets of Nashville, meg elsier is everything. A big statement, but with her new single ‘oldnews’, she continues to solidify her position as a dynamic and versatile artist. A tantalising preview of her upcoming debut album, ‘spittake’, set to drop in summer, elsier’s music intricately weaves together the raw edges of indie-rock with the polished nuances of folk and the bold flavours of alt-pop, creating a sound that is both uniquely hers and strikingly unifying.
‘oldnews’ joins a collection of singles that have steadily built up excitement for ‘spittake’. Following ‘ifshitfuq’, ‘iznotreal’, ‘baby’, and ‘forlyleinsanfrancisco’ – yeah, she’s not a fan of capital letters and spaces – each release has unveiled new layers of elsier’s artistry. With grungy guitars, heavy production, her signature lush vocals and a hint of swagger, she crafts songs that resonate deeply. Her music showcases both versatility and an ability to tap into the collective consciousness, exploring deeply personal yet universally relatable themes.
elsier’s journey to her debut album is a narrative of growth, experimentation, and the relentless pursuit of artistic authenticity. She greets us with the warmth and vibrancy that fans have come to love.
“It’s been a busy few months,” she admits, “but it’s honestly been great.” She’s got a show later tonight. “I’m just drinking tea and doing really bizarre vocal warmups on YouTube that are embarrassing but also so fucking funny,” she quips. It’s this kind of dedication and relatable humour that helps make elsier resonate with so many.
In a place as musically rich and competitive as Nashville, elsier treads her path with a keen awareness of the world around her. Despite the challenges and the noise, she finds strength in the community of empathetic, informed, and diverse individuals who support each other through it all.
When asked about the current vibe in city, elsier reflects on some complex dynamics. “To be honest, the news in Nashville is hard to navigate and tough not to get upset about,” she admits, echoing a political climate that increasingly drives opinions to extremes and leaves the vulnerable at risk, but even in the difficult times, there’s always hope. “I think the most important thing is that I’m so lucky to be surrounded by an incredibly empathetic and informed diverse group of people who look out for each other and harbour this community.”
Thankfully, music can provide something brighter to focus on. meg reminisces about her musical journey with a blend of nostalgia and humour. From the climb up the live circuit (“like The Blue Room and Basement East – honestly playing DRKMTTR is also so fun because I’ve seen Machine Girl hang from the ceiling there”), to hearing her music on the radio, every step has put a little more fuel in the engine.
“Hearing your music on the radio is a great way to make your parent think you’re doing well,” she jokes. “It’s not a TV show placement or a TikTok gone viral; it’s a radio liner and then your song, so that meant a lot to my mom and me.”
The real highlight, though, is ‘spittake’ and the skills learned during its creation. “This album was my first experience recording myself – not just vocals and guitar – and attempting to arrange and hear other instruments and what I wanted them to convey,” she explains. “That gave me a huge amount of confidence in going into the recording process and knowing that I would be able to make it sound like it did in my head.”
Describing ‘spittake’, elsier offers insight into the album’s thematic and sonic diversity. “It’s all over the place sonically, and the story isn’t necessarily linear,” she says. “The main connection throughout is this unreliable narrator that, as a listener, you determine your view and trust of them. They are incredibly inconsistent with their statements, but I do truly believe they think they’re telling the truth.”
This exploration of narrative and identity is what sets ‘spittake’ apart, promising a journey through the complexities of human emotion and storytelling.
“Hearing your music on the radio is a great way to make your parent think you’re doing well”
meg eisler
The process of bringing the record to life was filled with both challenges and revelations for elsier. “The timeline was all over the place for this one,” she admits. “I had songs that I had written a few years ago that I was experimenting how to play live with, and songs that I finished during the recording process at the last minute. But the concept of ‘spittake’ and having these specific songs on it probably happened a little more than a year ago. It also was the first time bringing my music to a producer that I really thought I saw myself. I just wanted to champion my voice and sound versus being incredibly produced.”
elsier is candid about the obstacles faced during recording. “You get a few challenges that are more technical,” she reveals, “like the ‘iznotreal’ vocals are a huge amount of stacks, 12 in total, of me singing very light and very quiet. There was a point where I think I had 30+ stacks of vocals, and I swear by the end of that day, I was delusional.”
“Another challenge was when we were recording ‘saturdaymorning’, which was a very intimate one mic, one take situation. A train would not stop blaring its horn, but I think it adds something to the recording that makes it more real.”
But it’s the moments of vulnerability and discovery that she cherishes most. “The biggest challenge for me, which I think a lot of artists probably go through, is the slight imposter syndrome that goes into the recording process,” she confides. “Being in a position to make the calls, and to be the one who is risking money, time. It takes a lot of pushing through and a lot of self-trust that I didn’t know I had, but it was a fantastic experience, and I learned so much.”
meg’s lyrical lessons
Lyrics are important. They give a song meaning and substance. They really get you into the mind of the artist. As proper critics who definitely don’t just look for the nearest megabop, we figured we should get meg to explain some of her faves.
“There are actually a lot of one-liners that I like,” she explains. “I’m such a fan of a single line that has multiple meanings or is so simple that you can project anything onto it. It scratches an itch in my brain that I love.”
Here are three of her top picks from ‘spittake’.
“I’d be your good girl, but I do bad things. And I talk dirty, but I keep the house clean.”
That’s just a sexy, fun, cute line that I love to perform because everyone gets rowdy.
“It’s all in my lies, but I’m telling the truth. What if I really loath myself just as much as I pretend to.”
This is the first line of the whole album. I think it’s paradoxical, yet the most honest I will be on the album.
“But I tried to grow up, without people watching, and forgot people grow when they’re old.”
I like it when lyrics are truly the first thought that popped into my head. I was thinking about my life and how family members get older and being the only one who moved from home. I think I notice the differences every time I come home. And I truly just was like, “People who are older change too”. It just represents the humanisation of your parents. That they were people before being a mom or dad.
elsier’s artistic vision extends beyond her music; she’s deeply involved in the visual aspects of her work, collaborating closely with friends and trusted creatives to ensure every aspect of her project feels authentic and true to her vision. “Every part of my work is so incredibly important to me, and important that I was a part of it and had people I trusted and loved to be involved,” she explains. “You can say so much with just how you’re styled, or the camera you’re using, or the lighting. It’s just another tool to be creative with and have self-expression.”
“I have been very lucky with this project to have people who believed in me entirely and only really wanted to do something that felt like me,” she says, shouting out some of her closest collaborators. “Visually, most of the videos and photos were Jacqueline Justice, Mary Violet Woosley, and me. Jaqueline and Mary are two of my greatest, deepest, and longest friendships I have had here in Nashville. We spent such a long time producing, sourcing items, location scouting, and styling everything for three videos that we did in three days back-to-back.”
“The ‘forlyleinsanfrancisco’ video that I made with my great friend Roberto Kohler was honestly this last-minute idea that ended up being me and my friends having a karaoke party,” she continues. “It showed a side to me that’s closer to the live show and shows a side to me that adores my friends and the comfort, fun, and confidence they give me to do this. I think it just really represents how you can’t do this shit by yourself, and it’s a gift if you let people in. It doesn’t have to take away from your individualism.”
Collaboration and being heavily involved in the wider world around her music are important to elsier. “Working in this way is something that means so much to me, not only as an artist but just as someone who wants to learn,” she explains. “Music looks like so many different things to me, and I feel like I’m such a visual listener. It was such a treat to be a part of these videos. It’s something that I will be involved in in the future.”
Reflecting on what makes a debut album truly resonate, she believes in the power of authenticity. “What I want to hear from a debut album is just an authentic, true depiction of what the artist wanted to show,” she reveals.
It’s something that came to the front when working with producer Ryan McFadden. “He asked me what some of my favourite records were,” she recounts. “I was just quiet for about 10 minutes. I knew records that I liked from artists I loved, but I think I never really thought about it because, for me, what makes a good record is the genuine energy that it flows through. When you have the component of THEM throughout the music, you can kinda jump in and be taken for a ride. That also applies to debut albums. If it’s true to the artist, you really can tell and feel it through the music.”
Being true to meg elsier can be all kinds of things. She’s a cook (“I’m half Korean, so you know my gimbap and kimchi pancake is on point”), a film aficionado (“Don’t look me up on Letterboxd! I love anything from the shittiest Adam Sandler movie to 1955 Southern gothic The Night Of The Hunter”) and a crafter (“It first started with making props for videos, and now we’re just papier mâché-ing for shits and gigs”), but one thing that’s definitely present is her commitment to her art above all.
“Success is such a funny and interesting thing to put onto something that shouldn’t have anything to do with that word, like music,” she considers when asked what success would look like for her as a musician. “It’s so individual and specific that there really shouldn’t be a gauge. I guess that’s why people have different ways of seeing success. But I would say for me if I can keep making music that helps me clear my head and heart and make things with my friends and community for my friends and community, and anyone who wants to engage with it can take something from it, that’s all I want.”
And if that doesn’t work out? “I can do a killer Bjork impression, too. ‘It’s oh so quiet’ is my go-to karaoke song,” she reveals, “although I’m afraid of karaoke!” ■
meg elsier’s new single ‘oldnews’ is out now. Follow Dork’s Hype Spotify playlist here.
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