Rising indie outfit Elita — Elita (vocals), Tim Rypien (guitar, keys) and John Eddy (guitar, slide guitar) can trace some of their origins back to their frontperson’s childhood:
Elita grew up in a small Newfoundland town of less than 800 people and spent much of his childhood in isolation. With the encouragement of her parents, she developed artistic skills in photography, drawing, dancing, singing and music. As a teenager, she changed schools frequently.
Feeling isolated and adrift from friends, she found comfort in social media. Back in 2015, Elita began to amass a following on Instagram, and started modeling. In 2017, she launched her own business, designing zines and a few years later, launched a successful jewelry line. That same year, she met her boyfriend and then-future bandmate Tim Rypien.
Elita and Rypsen recorded a cover of The Velvet Underground‘s “After Hours.” With a growing interest in film, Elita focused on writing a film script with Tim — with no success. But that collaboration led to their first single, 2018’s “I Hate Everyone but You.” Originally, they had no intention of making the song public, but after recording a test demo, they decided to release it.
Rypien concentrated on writing more songs with his bandmates and then sending those instrumentals to Elita, who would write lyrics and sing over them. That collaboration led to the recording and release of their debut EP, 2019’s Sick Girl, 2020’s “Void” and Blood Sucker EP, and their latest EP, last year’s Anxiety Angel EP, which featured the critically applauded, viral hit “Sour Switchblade,” a song that amassed over 15 million streams.
So far, the trio have amassed over 30 million streams — with very little industry support. During that same period, they’ve firmly cemented a reputation for crafting hypnotic, frequently dark material centered around Elita’s ethereal and dreamy vocals singing sinister lyrics. Interestingly, the trio’s newest material reportedly builds upon the dark and haunting subjects of their previously released material, while thematically touching upon anxiety, depression and the supernatural.
Late last year, the Canadian trio announced that their highly-anticipated full-length debut, Dysania will be slated for a March 22, 2023 release through Opposition. The album will feature the previously released singles “Mentally Not Here and “Sleep Paralysis.”
Dysania‘s fourth and latest single, “She Bangs Like a Fairy on Acid” is rooted in an eerily twinkling keys, thumping beats paired with Elita’s ethereal vocals singing . The end result is a song that sounds like a woozy, hallucinogenic and downright hellish lullaby.
“I made this song at my parents house on Christmas Day. I was messing around with their digital piano trying to recreate the Unsolved Mysteries theme song,” Elita’s Tim Rypien explains. “I missed the mark but thankfully the beat for SBLAFOA’ was born.” Elita adds, “Timmy and I tried mushrooms for the first time before writing this song. I felt like I was living in a little fairy world and that totally inspired this song. I wrote the lyrics on Christmas too.”
The rising Canadian trio will be embarking on a lengthy North American tour this Spring. The tour includes an April 8, 2023 stop at Elsewhere. Check out the tour dates below.
Tour Dates:
04/07/23 – Boston, MA @ Red Room at Cafe 939
04/08/23 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere
04/12/23 – Washington D.C. @ Pie Shop
04/15/23 – Nashville, TN @ The End
04/18/23 – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
04/28/23 – Toronto, ON @ Adelaide Hall
04/30/23 – Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge
05/02/23 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry
05/03/23 – Kansas City, MO @ recordBar
05/05/23 – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake
05/06/23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
05/09/23 – Seattle, WA @ The Funhouse
05/10/23 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
05/12/23 – Sacramento, CA @ Old Ironsides
05/13/23 – San Francisco, CA @ Brick & Mortar Music Hall
05/14/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Venice West
05/18/23 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
05/19/23 – Austin, TX @ 3TEN ACL Live
05/20/23 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
05/23/23 – St Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill Duck Room
05/25/23 – Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s
05/27/23 – Montreal, QB @ Bar Le Ritz PDB