Brooklyn-based dark pop artist Elliot Lee introduces a brand-new single, “Airplanes,” featuring Letdown, a song about phobias, especially the fear of flying, as well as coping with anxiety and depression.
A singer, songwriter, and multi-dimensional artist, Elliot Lee’s sound blends elements of thrash rock, alt-pop, electronic music, and hip-hop into raw, audacious music. Their fanbase, called “the bubblegum army,” is substantial. Millions of Spotify streams, appearances on playlists such as New Music Friday and Bedroom Pop, as well as features in elite outlets, all stem from Elliot’s acting as a voice for the voiceless.
Elliot told SoundVapors’ Tommy Marz, “For me, colors are really important just in everything that I do because even when I write notes or do anything boring, I have to add colors to it because it helps me stay grounded and on the positive side of things. Growing up I rejected the color pink for a long time because I was going through a theme, punk phase and I was like, I can’t like pink. I’m kind of a poser if I like pink. Then I grew out of that and now I can be all these things and I can like pink, and I can wear pink when I’m not feeling the best. Even when I’m feeling all of these sad emotions and these strong feelings, I don’t have to wear black or dark colors like that. I can wear my pink and I don’t have to look sad, just because I feel that way.”
“Airplanes” opens on nursery rhyme vocals accompanied by handclaps, and the rolls into a thumping hip-hop-flavored rhythm riding chopsticks-like keyboards. Rock-opera-laced voices and glowing, sugary gang harmonies give the lyrics vibrant dynamics. The resulting sound might be called bubble-gum-pop opera, brimming with fat resonance and luscious flamboyance.
“Airplanes” is grand, a swashbuckling mixture of pop, hip-hop, and baroque flavors. Elliot Lee has it going on!