Eleanor Kelly is a New York-based singer/songwriter and musician, who has spent stints in Belgium and Israel. “Fueled by coffee, cat cuddles, 80s synth and metal,” Kelly has been writing and performing songs from a young age. Those songs have frequently featured lyrics inspired and informed by her personal life and her immediate environment — especially in a politically-charged environment like Israel.
When Kelly turned 13, she submitted a song to Eurovision Song Content. That song received positive feedback but was eventually declined because it was deemed “too political.”
After playing a variety of roles in a number of different music projects throughout her life, Kelly stepped out into the spotlight as a solo artist with the release of her debut single “Daisy Chain” earlier this year, which showcased an artist influenced by Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Garbage, Deftones with subtle nods to European and Middle Eastern music.
Kelly is currently working on her debut EP, which is slated for release next year. She’s also preparing for a series of live shows around the New York Metropolitan area. But in the meantime, her latest single “Sentiments” is a sleek and slinky number built around a sinuous bass line, swirling shoegazer-like guitar tones and glistening synth oscillations paired with Kelly’s sultry delivery and an enormous, remarkably catchy hook. Sonically, “Sentiments” channels a synthesis of It’s Blitz-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Garbage and Dum Dum Girls among others, while displaying a seemingly effortless craftsmanship.
Created using AI, the accompanying video uses 90s Anime and follows a female protagonist desperately trying to survive through a series of evil and bad scenarios and cartoon baddies.
“‘Sentiments’ was written as a song of empowerment. I originally wrote these lyrics as an outlet for my frustration with the current state of the world, which also has a major impact on my personal life as a young woman on this planet (as well as that of many others),” Eleanor Kelly explains. “The lyrics deal with a faltering reality, where it seems hard to find the positive things to hold on to, and to find the ability to make a change. When it came to the instrumentation, the writing started out with a funky bassline and was built from there. I wanted the listener to feel more energized and empowered as the song went on. To do so I chose to use various synths, fuzzy guitars, a deep bass, and loud drums, building up to the last chorus, which is layered to produce the most energizing moment in the composition. While all my previous songs have been produced solely by me, I worked with co-producer, Harper James, on the final stages of this song. Harper also mixed and mastered the track.
“When thinking about the music video, I wanted to emphasize the message that ‘Sentiments’ presents,” Kelly adds. “Using AI, which is currently a controversial topic in most creative fields, I decided to present the lyrics in the form of a 90’s vintage Anime – an ode to my childhood, which felt like a simpler and more innocent time. The story follows a lead female character, haunted by various bad scenarios in her existence on Earth, which are represented by the shifting characters that chase her through space and time. Fed up with this reality, she decides to fight back, eventually destroying the bad with her own inner power. The ability to do so through animation, which unfortunately, I do not have the power to do in real life, complemented the empowering aspect of the song.”