This indie-rock three-piece get vulnerable about love, religious trauma, and healing on their full-length debut.
Hamiltonian post-rockers Ellevator invite you to soak in the spiritual healing on their debut album, The Words You Spoke Still Move Me. Crafting high-quality pop songs inspired by both classic and indie rock greats, the members including; Nabi Sue Bersche on vocals, Elliott Gwynne on bass and keys, and Tyler Bersche on guitar have proven to be a #HAMONT indie act to watch, even if still in their early days.
Nabi Sue Bersche explains that the band shares the majority of their major influences, which can be summed up by, "arty rock music made from 1985-1995."
"Been going through a major Jackson Browne and Laurel Canyon phase this year," said Bersche. "Been revisiting and very much enjoying a lot of Fela Kuti this week. Our taste’s are all over the place, but we coalesce around arty rock music made from 1985-1995 and throughout the mid/late aughts."
The band began building their debut album in the summer of 2019, adding the final touches on May 6th, 2022.
The Words You Spoke Still Move Me opens on the track "Claws", a song about the power of love, control, and surrendering to trust. "Easy" follows next, a track about religious fundamentalism.
"This song is about the good and evil things we are raised to believe," said Bersche. "I was raised in the world of charismatic Christianity- an offshoot of Pentecostalism. I was held captive by an ideology that severely limited my life and my perspective of the world around me. It’s a process I’m still in the middle of, this work of extraction."
"The City" is an mix of several stories told by women who have fled abusive Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints sects and similar communities, directly inspired by Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven. "Charlie IO" is about a friend seeking self-discovery through psychedelics and other escapisms, without doing the hard work of real self-reflection and "owning your shit." "Sacred Heart" is a love story, one from within the band itself.
"Ty and I got married on a cold spring morning when I was 22 and he was 19," said Bersche. "There wasn’t much chance to sell each other on our own myths, to be the mysterious stranger from out of town: we wrote our origin story together. Learning to love each other better has been a strange journey, and the great gift of my life."
"Slip" uses Scottish mythology to tell a story about killing the things that hold you captive, while "The Prism" frees lovers from societal expectations of what love should be. "Mother" describes grief in it's many forms, and "Creatures" tells the story of a child running away from pain.
"As an arty kid growing up in the country I spent a lot of time in my head," said Bersche. "I am so thankful for that solitude- it formed everything about me. This song implores you to speak your mind and get involved. The world can’t love you back if you don’t let it in."
The tenth track, "Better", is about a deteriorating friendship, "Star" is on the pressures of fame and shaping your identity in the spotlight, and finishing off the album is "Party Trick"- a song about Peter Pan syndrome.
"I started writing this song to my teenage self: a flighty, insecure kid posturing
confidence," said Bersche. "I’d jump around to all the different cliques like a self-styled Ferris Bueller, leaving just before friendships could settle in. Being on the road brought out those same old tendencies: keep it all on the level, don’t go too deep."
Chris Walla produced the project, providing: "focus, chaos, his beautiful dahl tadka, whatever."
"It was principally engineered by Walla, Nyles Spencer, Dan Hosh, and Will Crann who are all masters in their own right," said Bersche. "Mike Davis mixed it and managed to make it sound like a record! His work is so vital and full of life without sacrificing balance. Joao Carvahlo’s wonderfully dynamic master put a bow on it."
Ellevator hopes that the words on their album can move you right back.
"I hope this record can pierce the numb death spiral of social media and rattle something elemental in you," said Bersche. "I hope it can be a salve when shit’s too much. I hope it hums out of your little phone speaker, sitting on the counter while you do the dishes and remember the meal. I hope it whispers in your earbuds and puts you to sleep on the last bus home. I hope it gives you what you want and maybe something you didn’t know you needed. This record is made of everything we’ve got, and when you let it into your life it moves us."
You can help support Ellevator by streaming their music, following their socials, and by donating to their Bandcamp linked below.
"Come to a show, say hello over the internet," said Bersche. "Let our songs become a part of your life if you’re moved to do so."
Upcoming gigs:
Tour dates: https://www.ellevatormusic.com/tour