Elsie Lange - Album Feature
Leaving Naarm, working with Snowy, plus an affiliation with Elena Ferrante in more ways than one
Noah chats with Elsie Lange all about her latest album, The Normal Discontents of Living, missing Naarm, and her life changes.
Firstly, congrats on the new album, The Normal Discontents of Living. I hear that it took a couple of years to piece together, with the help of the one and only Snowy on most of the songs. Can you tell us how that collaboration came about?
Thank you so very much. It did take a couple of years. I’ve been a big fan of whatever Snowy does in various bands for a really long time. It was his 2020 Snowy Band album, Audio Commentary, that made me want to work with him. It really got me. I listened to it over and over and loved its light and dark, its art and its story.
When I realised it was coming time to record again in late 2022, I asked if he’d be interested in helping make a world similar to the ones he’d made on his own albums. A while after that, we got a coffee at Rat Café in Thornbury to talk about working together might look like. From there we recorded the first single, Sally, at Bakehouse Studios, alongside drummer Alana Wilson (Adored) who is just a powerhouse of talent.
It came together quickly. We shared a lot of joy and I think you can hear that. We didn’t record the tracks for every song together, but pulled it together in pieces and worked closely (sometimes thousands of kilometres apart) on its sound, back and forth over email.
I worked with Calum Newton on one of the tracks called Lost Ground. He recorded and mixed it because we’d played it together for so long and I wanted the live sound to come through, which I think he did really well.
The album draws inspiration from Elena Ferrante as well as taking a deep dive into the chaos of human emotion. Can you tell us your connection to Ferrante and your interest with human emotion?
Elena Ferrante gets down in the sludge of the ugly, difficult, humiliating things we all feel. I feel indebted to her honesty (though we still don’t know who she is, it could be some bloke for all I know!).
She can make you see magic and danger through the eyes of a five year old, and fury and resentment and hopelessness in a body abandoned. I’m inspired by that truthfulness and inhibition.
The name of the album comes from her novel The Days of Abandonment, a novel exploring identity, grief and despair. It hit me in the guts. Olga, the central character, is certain her husbands is going to come back – that he's going through the ‘normal discontents of living’. He doesn’t. She spirals and becomes someone she never wanted to be. I’m intrigued by and in awe of those big feelings.
I understand that you moved to Mparntwe/Alice Springs last year to reconnect with the place you grew up after spending a decade living and making music in Naarm/Melbourne. Can you tell us about that choice to move and how hard it has been hard to leave the people and music scene of Naarm behind?
I miss Naarm/Melbourne all the time and it was a really hard move, even though it felt like it was time. Despite living in Naarm from the moment I finished high school, I still felt a little out of place. I missed the big country. But it might not be forever, either.
Naarm feels like home too. I miss the easy pubs and the race to picnic in the park in spring and being able to see a band every night of the week.
I am wondering what your live set up is and if any of the players on your album have moved with you or have continued being in your band from afar? also, what are your plans for launching the new album?
I’m taking a bit of a gap year working as an English teaching assistant, which is pretty outside of my comfort zone. I’ll be back in Australia in about July/August and I can’t wait to throw myself into organising shows and a tour.
Outside of music what do you put your energy into?
Outside of music I love to write, and I still work as a freelance journalist. I also put a lot of my energy into whatever main job I’m doing, whether that’s in journalism, communications or as a teaching assistant as I am now. I find it hard to switch gears. I love to cook and eat, to read and crochet. I just finished reading Melanie Cheng’s The Burrow and it moved me deeply.
Finally, who are your favourite Melbourne bands at the moment and who would you like to see interviewed for Tempo?
Oh gosh soooo many. How big can the list be?
Chitra – Chitra’s latest music video for Close Proximity is like watching a dream. All of her music makes me want to dance. What a joy.
Merpire – not only are the latest songs from Merpire so so so good, she’s also really funny. Can’t wait for her new record Milk Pool.
Tamara and the Dreams – Speaking of funny. Tamara is the Successful Bisexual (their latest song) hero we all need and the new song crams all of Tamara’s wittiness, vibrancy and dreaminess into just under four minutes.
El Tee – Raw, vulnerable and beautiful! Love El Tee’s new songs and can’t wait to hear the whole album.
Eggy – The latest album from Eggy scratches all my favourite music itches.
Sarah Mary Chadwick – I was listening to SMC’s new record while I was cooking the other day and found myself crying. No onions in sight. Just great songwriting.
This is on top of the bands my band members are a part of, including Adored, Candy Moore, Jarrow, Rhysics (new album on the way!!) and Perlinki.
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