New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Inspired by a collection of letters between Ellie and her mum which where written after her parent's divorce, the song documents Ellie's sense of loss, bewilderment and desperation in that situation. It was a pivotal experience that led her to a point where the lack of tools she had to deal with her feelings ended up manifesting as depression and an admittedly grim existence (as portrayed in the video for the song). However, the song casts aside any notions of harboured bitterness. Instead focussing on forgiveness, Ellie's plea is for reconciliation in circumstances far more likely given to animosity - in the end the hurt gets washed away.
"Mother Mother" is the second in a series of ongoing collaborations with producer and multi-instrumentalist, Gentle William. Once again indicative of a strangely sympathetic musical trajectory (Ellie and GW have never actually had a conversation - everything is worked out by bouncing ideas back and forth across the intergalactic void of the internet), the song bulges with the kind of warmth and richness that Ellie's debut " Out Of Nowhere" promised just a few months earlier. Indeed, "Mother Mother" is awash with otherworldly synths borrowed directly from the Blade Runner soundtrack and Ellie's rich, sonorous harmonies build, layer upon layer, above a glitchy, crackling soundscape.
As influences go, on the one hand Ellie cites the brutalism of Joy Division, Bauhaus and The Cure as her go-to artists, on the other, GW confesses his fascination with quiet melancholy of Nick Drake alongside his love of contemporary adventurers like Sufjan Stevens, Bibio, Fennesz and Sparklehorse. Truth told, this second instalment in Ellie's small-but-perfectly-formed catalogue might be an unlikely convergence, but perhaps this strange meeting of otherwise divergent paths is what works so well, and regardless of its starkness, "Mother Mother" presents the second of two captivating pieces of work from an emerging artist you should keep an eye on.
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