Elohim - Elohim

Elohim
Elohim
2018
Spotify

Producer, Singer, artists it seems like there is nearly no place Elohim is willing to go with her sound. Coming off a highly touted mid-day Coachella set in the newly revamped Sahara stage the LA based artist is back with her second LP, this one self titled. Elohim is a journey through her erratic and addictive music. You never see full pictures of Elohim's face, nor can you predict where a song may take you. "The Wave" feels almost like Porter Robinson meets Carly Rae Jepsen, yet it even has a deeper layer than that. The music pumps while Elohim sings a sweet song that eventually drops into this EDM stance. It's simply intoxicating the level of music going on here because at a first glace it's just pop. That however is not nearly giving Elohim the credit it deserves as it includes so many little fun elements that set the songs apart. "Sleepy Eyes" for example has this almost tropical house beat, but it also has these live horns and Elohim's breathy vocals preventing it from ever falling into the pitfalls that genre can have. For the purposes of reviewing this album you almost need to go track by track, because they are all so very different from each other. Even the unifying factor of her voice is shattered as she throws effects and changes her delivery on almost every song. There are however a couple times on this record that things feel a bit to poppy, or just generic, one of those being the single "Fuck Your Money". Is is a fine bassy kind of festival track, but it doesn't really maintain that experimental edge that Elohim is known for.

As with her other music self evaluation is at the forefront of most of these tracks. Elohim tries to look inward and get to the root of issues while still writing fascinating love songs. She treis to dig just a little deeper on the subjects like depression and loneliness, finding at the end a place where she can triumph over them both. On "The Universe is Yours"  Elohim reaches this point where she almost sounds like she is doing some straight up trip hop, but it wiggles and flows into a really different sound. That is what makes her so special really, the fact that you don't know where this experience is going to take you next. The one thing you miss on this album is her more experimental tendencies which have taken a bit of a backseat for a more pop sensibility. "Panic Attacks" which features Yoshi Flower is at the same time really sweet and delicate, but also a harsh look at one's self. You just wish the music itself had that cutting edge that some of her previous stuff has had. It is only in the interludes where she really digs in on the musical experimentation, filling you ears and soul with intense sound. Elohim is a real look at what pop music can be once you push it to it's outer edges and Elohim herself seems to be one of the only artists willing to go there.

8.8 out of 10