Tuesday 15th February, 2021
Eli Dan’s debut single, Treading Water, was a finalist in the 2019 International Song Competition. The emerging Australian music artist followed that up with Just Another Love Song, which received decent media attention, including adds on ABC National Stingray, In Store Playlist Coles Radio, In Store DAB and KIIS – Feature.
Eli Dan harnesses the pop sensibilities and vocal power of Elisha Apurado (Eli) and the folk-based roots style of musician Danny Hacket (Dan). Together Eli Dan transforms into an artistic union, exploring a genre that’s a blend of Sara Bareilles, John Mayer, LAUV, and Vera Blue. Still Frames, Eli Dan’s new release, begins as a low-key, bare-bones ballad, intimate and tinged with vulnerability but soon develops into a pop R&B crossover with a lyric that is equally as expositional.
As Eli has said about the new track, ‘Although it was written during a time of grieving, it is a song that celebrates the memories of the ones we have lost. The song looks back on the moments that may have once been taken for granted and honours the blessings that came about from having such amazing people go before us and shape us into who we are today.’
The lyric is one part melancholic meditation, somewhat sentimental but never too dramatic, and one part confessional, with the chorus lines examining this dual sense in a clear and digestible way, such as, ‘As I close my eyes / I see still frames of you in my mind / the music takes me back / to a much simpler time / you were there but you couldn’t see / that because of you / I found me.’ Still Frames is an apt title for what the lyric purports to reveal—memory, time, place—don’t we view these elements as stills and less frequently as moving images?
Still Frames adopts a ballad-like approach, though it eventually builds into a thicker, more expansive sound, with surprise elements, including handclap rhythms, string textures, and perhaps more unsurprising kinds, such as lush, layered vocals. Co-written with Danny Hacket and arranged, produced, mixed, and mastered by Elisha Apurado, Still Frames will undoubtedly attract plenty of playlist attention and even more radio love for Eli Dan.
