Subside - Eloise

“Subside” - Eloise

30 May 2019 – from This Thing Called Living EP

London singer-songwriter Eloise’s debut EP concludes with this jazzy journey through the tension and release into new love. She frustratingly admits to falling into something with her new lover. One opening chord is all it takes for her mind to run. And then the flame started by the rhythm section drops in. This ember burns so furiously that Eloise invites this person to “come through my door and be my fire’s replacement.” She pleads, “just learn me inside out,” with a melodic overlay aching for this person with every part of her mind and body.

The chorus is restless. She’s losing sleep, no longer sits stills, sweats all the time. The guitar’s syncopation under the soulful eighth-note singing reflects this instability. And yet, when their eyes meet hers, “my heart subsides.” That heart comes to a comfortable, steady ride carried by the auxiliary voices of synthesizers and background singing.

The second verse compares this steadiness to “the ocean drifting me out into space.” Eloise is so accustomed to uncertainty that she wants to experience those familiar things, “the pain…the storm,” that new love brings. It’s not negative. She wants the emotional tremor. Eloise’s voice is almost frustrated at this new love before she falls into another chorus. Almost speechless, she lets scat singing and a smooth guitar follow her out the door.

This track is an agonizing acceptance of the warmth and promise of new romance. It can’t help pacing back and forth across a room. In her agitation, Eloise delivers the listener a brilliant record.