Introducing: ELKA - 'Burnt Out'

Named after lead singer & guitarist Joel's cat, ELKA are a guitar-pop, five-piece based along the south coast of England and comprised of Joel, Warren - (guitars & vocals) Jack - (keys, glitches) & vocals) Harrison - (drums) and Luke - (bass).

'Burnt Out' shakes and splutters into glitchy life lively enough, before fuzzy, amped up, exhausted, bass and  uplifting guitar lines battle it out to disguise the fact that the band are actually in a bit of a funk. "Stop kicking about the house it's pointless, it's broken", are the opening lines that the instrumentation dips and drops alongside in a moody, worn out fashion. Indicative that perhaps everything isn't as cheery as some of the instrumental hooks wish us to believe.

There's magic in the chorus, as Joel dreamily sings, "Where do we go from here, are we already over done?  I've got this burnt out feeling like I've laid under summer sun". The guitar interplay, keys and samples continues to contradict themselves throughout the track, balancing light and dark and providing beautifully textured melodies.

It's hard to make guitar-pop /indie sound individual when there is so much out there, but there's something refreshing about ELKA. It's in their songwriting, in their arrangements and in their layered vocal harmonies. This is a band carving out a strong sense of direction and an identity that takes the best of the old, nods towards it, but makes everything seem new. It's an accessible, popular sound and I get the feeling these guys don't yet know just how good they are.

 Words of Karla Harris

 'Burnt Out' is the first of three tracks taken from the band's self titled EP, officially released on the 9th March via iTunes and currently streaming on Soundcloud.

Live dates:

March 19th - The Victoria (London)

March 31st - The Finsbury (London)