“I blacked out in the studio,” Elsier tells me at her home on Nashville’s eastside. She said she remembers nothing about making the album and doesn’t want anyone to know what any of the songs mean. She just wants to make people feel. The scenes in “Uncut Gems” where Oneohtrix Point Never scores over shots of the galaxy in primary colors served as an inspiration for making you feel without saying anything.
“I kind of didn’t want to believe that Ryan [McFadden, who produced the record] has synesthesia, but I felt it. And I wanted the album to feel like that.”
This playlist reflects that feeling. There is Vangelis, the incredible instrumental electronic band, and even Beethoven, squeezed next to Danny Brown and Elliott Smith. The playlist is also a reminder that Meg Elsier is in a league of her own, uninterested in one musical lane and instead taking inspiration from both Karen Dalton and Injury Reserve. Like Spittake, maybe don’t dissect it for what it is trying to tell you, let your body feel it.