Luke Elliot shares his new single “What It Is” on May 31st via Icons Creating Evil Art. The huge break-up ballad which is enhanced with both strings and choir parts will have a music video in mid-April. Luke says: “This is a piece about my family before it fell apart. It’s still difficult for me to listen to. It came together in Sweden with Peter Kvint in about 5 minutes. I struggled with the lyrics for a while, but the melody came immediately.” Download the track HERE.
His forthcoming full-length album ‘Let ‘Em All talk’ is released May 19th on all formats, everywhere. Pre-order link: HERE . Luke will be appearing at the UK’s Black Deer Festival in June with more dates to be added soon.
Luke Elliot’s journey began the old-fashioned way — working his way up from playing small bars in the Lower East Side of Manhattan to some of the most legendary clubs in the country, such as NYC’s Mercury Lounge and Webster Hall, and Philadelphia’s World Café Live. Through his critically acclaimed recordings and mesmerizing live shows, the fledgling artist caught the attention of film director Paul Cantagallo, who asked Elliot to compose the music for his film, Benny the Bum, which won Best Local Film at the 2012 Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.
Musically, an eclectic mix of influences pumps through Elliot’s veins that range from John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, and Dylan to The Cramps, Gun Club, and Mink DeVille, to films by spaghetti western inventor, as well as Badlands, Pulp Fiction, Natural Born Killers. His interest for film hasn’t stayed with music, it has also taken him to the big screen. It turned out the multitalented Elliot has acting skills as well. He performed his song “All On Board” in the Norwegian TV series hit “Exit”, Norway’s most streamed series ever, and he played against Carrie-Anne Moss from The Matrix in the crime series “Wisting”.
An introduction to Rihanna’s original manager, Christa Shaub, led to a meeting with an influential Norwegian journalist that would send his career on a fast-track trajectory. And though the New Jersey-bred Elliot had never been out of the country — or even owned a passport — he found himself spending a whirlwind two years in Europe. He fell in love with Northern Europe, settled down in Oslo, and Northern Europe fell in love with him – a fan base started to grow.
In Norway he formed a band and recorded the debut album Dressed for the Occasion (2016), which was produced and mixed by John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile), who fell for Elliot’s EP, Provisions (2014). “The first time I heard Luke’s voice,” recalls Agnello, “I knew he was super talented. Then when I saw him play piano and sing, I saw that he was a force of nature. And watching him grow as an artist has been remarkable.”
His passion for performing live has taken him to sold-out venues all over the world, playing to thousands of new fans, appearing on major TV shows, and drawing the praise of the European press. Dressed for the Occasion hit #7 on iTunes in Norway, received more than 2 million streams on TIDAL/Spotify in Europe, and Elliot was named one of the world’s five best new artists by TIDAL.
Luke Elliot’s evocative second album The Big Wind (2020) came out of a turbulent time in his life. It is a boldly textured and instantly immersive album with a film noir-ish touch that is simultaneously sleek and modern at the eye of the storm. “These songs have to do with a pull to come into a stable existence,” Luke explained. “While writing them, I had no permanent residence, but I scrambled to get this record done.” Rolling Stone France picked The Big Wind as its Album Of The Month upon release and referred to Luke as an “undeniable talent combined with a truly stunning voice.” The UK’s MOJO Magazine called him “…a master of accessible, twisted, gothic Americana.”
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