New Music: Elise Trouw – All You Need Is Lust

Music may soothe the savage beast, but that seems to be the furthest thing from Elise Trouw’s mind on her new single.

The lead track from her satirical concept album The Diary of Elon Lust, All You Need Is Lust does invite comparisons with real-life figures, but I’ll let you work out who those may be for yourselves.

I do wonder if it’s also a coincidence that the track feels like the fantasy of a ketamine-triggered alpha male, relaying a reality where women are only valued in commercial terms.

The chilled, woozy tones of the electropop arrangement have a surreal quality at times, the lyrics suggestive but oddly stripped of sensuality, even as Trouw invites the listener to spend time with her.

“I started writing these songs as a joke,” says Trouw about the album. “But over time I realized they weren’t completely jokes. And suddenly, they were the only songs I was writing that felt real.”

“This album might feel like a big departure, but it’s the first time I’ve felt free in my songwriting; it’s my humor, my perspective on the world,” Elise shares. “Even though these songs come from my own experiences, I hope people hear them and understand too.”

“She adds about the startling imagery in the video for All You Need Is Lust – yes, the title is a riff on the Beatles classic – “We wanted it to feel strange and unsettling: somehow sexual, but not sexualized.”

The Diary of Elon Lust is set for a digital release on the 13th of February next year via Midtopia. For news on the vinyl edition, which will be available via Buy Before You Stream, head to Elise Trouw’s Instagram and Facebook feeds.