LA-based Deloyd Elze specializes in deconstructed sad-eyed alt-country. There’s more than a little Bon Iver in the way he dissects the singer-songwriter format, but there’s nothing abstract about his deep drawl and plainspoken lyrics, which remind me of everyone from Fust to Justin Townes Earle to Zach Bryan at times. Sorry to go full RIYL on this one, but: Imagine if Jay Farrar let Jeff Tweedy produce an album for him, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-style, and you might end up with something like Elze’s 2024 EP A Horse Named Proletariat.
Elze calls Nellene, his new EP out today, a sibling to the prior EP. It’s soft and slow and arresting, like watching someone pour their heart out amidst a mirage. Here’s a statement Elze attached to the work:
Nellene is a labor of love and a continuation of thought on A Horse Named Proletariat. They exist as siblings, but each one has their own personality and shape. It was made over the course of a year or so, in various locations. A garage in Boyle Heights, a garage in Joshua Tree, a studio in Echo Park, a house in Eagle Rock, a cabin in Beachwood Canyon, and a studio apartment right in the abyss of Hollywood. It was made with some of my best friends and constant wellsprings of inspiration. I lost my grandmother May of 2024, and her loss has had a profound effect on me. She is one of a litany of reasons why I continue to make and pursue music. When I went home to bury her, we looked through her photo albums and found an incredible and new look on her life. She taught me that life is about fighting for the things you love and what you want to make out of it. It can be hard, it can be simple, it can be cruel, and it can be wonderful. There is no rhyme or reason to this big, beautiful rock floating in space. We make the most of it with the short time we are allotted. You either have to be too dumb or stubborn to quit but above all you have to try. This record is dedicated to Margaret Nellene Williamson.
Listen to Nellene below.
Nellene is out now on Concord.
