ELVY

WITH their debut album Return to the Moon set for release on 30th October 2015, El Vy, the collaborative project of The National’s Matt Berninger and Menomena’s Brent Knopf have just released ‘I’m the Man to Be’ a follow-up to lead single ‘Return to the Moon (Political Song for Didi Bloome to sing, with Crescendo)’.

El Vy’s output thus far is a far cry from The National’s renowned emotive alt-rock, opting instead, for the light and playful; ‘Return to the Moon’ sounds like The Strokes on a cruise holiday and ‘I’m the Man to Be’ continues down that same corridor of exploration.

The new single begins with a grooving bassline weaving beneath briefly utilised rhythm guitars reminiscent of The Rolling Stones before it meanders off hand in hand with Berninger’s lazy drawl. The track exudes a sense that there was absolutely no pressure in its creation, it’s confident and experimental in its production; additional female vocals, a xylophone riff and audio clips including one of an awkward introductory conversation between a man and woman all swirl around an understated yet anthemic chorus.

Berninger is on dark form, as always, murmuring “I’m not afraid to die, maybe just a little bit; I just don’t want it to hurt”. If Elvis was the King then El Vy are surely contenders to the throne; effortlessly cool.

Listen to ‘I’m the Man to Be’ below:

El Vy play:

9th December – Electric Ballroom, LONDON
10th – Electric Ballroom, LONDON
12th  – Gorilla, MANCHESTER
13th – Whelans, DUBLIN (IRE)