EL VY, the collaborative brainchild of The National’s Matt Berninger and Brent Knopf of Ramona Falls and Menomena, are set to release their debut album Return to the Moon on 30th October 2015. Having already put out the album’s title track as well as singles ‘I’m the Man to Be’ and ‘No Time to Crank the Sun’, anticipation is certainly high.
The latest album taster comes in the form of ‘Paul is Alive’, a meandering, autobiographical glimpse into Berninger’s youth in his native Cincinnati and, as the singer puts it, learning who you are and “finding the water you can breathe in. From his mother’s love of The Beatles to his introduction to music through Husker Du, The Smiths and The Cramps, Berninger’s anecdotal lyrics retain the sort of intense emotional intimacy which has shaped the cinematic sounds of The National. However, El Vy grasp his lyrical idiosyncrasies and identify with the oddball currents on a much more playful level than The National ever have.
‘Paul is Alive’ begins with acoustic guitars and electric drums underpinning a synth melody and a drawling vocal line before sinewy keys and guitar riffs swirl into life, slowly elevating the track into plains of gorgeous yet subtle complexity. El Vy have created an experimental sound which, at times, teeters on the edge of sounding lazy; there is no urgency or rush to create a real hook yet they seem to have mastered exactly how to write songs which sound almost accidentally anthemic.
The closest ‘Paul is Alive’ ventures to a chorus comes when Berninger sings “I’ve never been this far up the river”, backed by soulful voices which sound like they’ve been lifted straight from a Rolling Stones track and the result is, frankly, excellent.
