Bored Of The Circus (Vinyl)
On her second EP, Bored of the Circus, the London-based singer-songwriter continues refining her craft, pairing lyrics that acutely describe mental illness with music that updates the idea of “the perfect pop song” for the 21st century — although it does so by reaching back into music’s past. The five tracks on Bored of the Circus possesses an out-of-time quality that’s heightened by the contrast between her quivering lead vocal and the hovering choirs behind it.
While one might wonder if those choirs are the result of diligent crate-digging, every voice in them is sung by Kings and arranged by her alongside her chief collaborator half rhymes. “People always think that the low voices are sung by a man, but it’s me,” she laughs. After recording, the backing-vocal track is processed to give it a spectral quality reminiscent of dusty old records. “I just love that it makes it feel like it’s from another era.”
With her first headlining dates already behind her and festival dates as well as a stint opening for U.S. pop-rock megaforce Imagine Dragons looming, Kings Elliot is on her way to establishing herself as one of altpop’s leading up-and-comers. Her bruising honesty and dedication to the craft of songwriting have already made her beloved by fans around the world, and she’s already been called “a future star” by BBC6 music maven Chris Hawkins. Bored of the Circus adds to her impressive body of work with five beautifully wrought, astonishingly intimate songs.
