Elsie and Mayhem - Cherry Bomb
ELSIE AND MAYHEM RELEASE DELUXE ‘CHERRY BOMB’
Portland, Oregon-based alternative outfit Elsie and Mayhem recently released “Cherry Bomb,” a track from their debut album, It’s Only Rock And Roll Dust, which recounts the couple’s confrontation with their imploding marriage. Happily, rather than divorcing, they revived their marriage.
Elsie and Mayhem | Photo: Annika Hinds
Vocalist and songwriter Elsie explains, “We’ve been together for almost 20 years, and we were at a place where most couples would have said f-it. But we found we were willing to work on songs together and that meant we were willing to work on us. What we couldn’t talk about overtly, we communicated to each other with lyrics.”
Mayhem injects, “February could have resulted in a divorce for us. I found myself writing lyrics for her to sing, and those words helped me to understand better what she was going through—those were my aha moments.”
Although the album doesn’t contain a ‘they lived happily ever after track,’ Elsie says, “I think of it as our artistic wheelhouse,” while Mayhem says excitedly, “We found love again.”
Elsie’s voice, full of luscious tonal nuances, at once seductive and inimitable, imbues the lyrics with vibrant textures.
Mayhem, aka Carl Hind, founded and played lead guitar for the ‘90s alt-rock band Dandelion, which was signed to Columbia Records. In addition, he played with The Hell Yeahs and Blackheart Whitenoise. Elsie, aka Emily Alexander, performed as a puppeteer for most of her career.
“Cherry Bomb” opens on almost nursery rhyme-like chimes flowing into a crunching rhythm supporting gritty shoegaze-Esque guitars. Elsie’s voice, full of luscious tonal nuances, at once seductive and inimitable, imbues the lyrics with vibrant textures.
“Then he walked in / And my heart went / Boom, boom, boom / So this is love / My heart goes / Boom, boom, boom / Like a cherry bomb.”
Sparkling yet rippling with sonic muscle, ‘Cherry Bomb” delivers infectious layers of harmonics capped by the deluxe voice of Elsie.
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