Electronic Press Kit:
Ell Freeman - songwriter and artist from London
Ell Freeman sings emotive and melodic songs on guitar, with cuttingly frank and wry lyrics, and a distinctive powerful voice.
A university researcher and neuroscientist all his career, Ell has been composing since a child, but only properly began to put words to his music in his forties. He now has an extensive songbook, in a versatile mix of retro genres including indie rock and pop, punk, soul-funk, ballads, and bossa nova, which often jam together in unexpected ways.
Ell trained with the Songwriter Academy, working closely with professional songwriters including Andrew Rollins (B.B. King, Chaka Khan, Billy Ray Cyrus, Dionne Warwick, Carole King), Charlie Grant (Melanie C, Simply Red, Michael Schulte), and Julian Hinton (Stormzy, Seal, Rod Stewart) to hone his craft. He regularly performs his songs around London, and delivered his first international solo concert recently in Maringá, Brazil. He is now ready to launch himself as a recording artist.
This debut collection combines high-energy rock songs from the repertoire of Ell's former band Stonyhills, with more reflective recent songs. Key influences include Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, David Bowie, The Police, and The Clash. With a few exceptions, the tracks on his upcoming EP were written, performed and produced entirely by Ell. He also produced the videos.
The songs on the upcoming release document the frustration and anger building up during Brexit and Lockdown, followed by a family break-up and an uneasy return to the dating scene:
-
Cold Shoulder is a cheeky punky song about zombie love that is Dead On Arrival. The video reanimates footage of lab-grown snowflakes in time to the off-beat rhythm.
-
Goodbye Stranger was written during lockdown when Ell became unhealthily hyper-focused on his music projects. This song apologises to his teenage sons for not being more available. In the video Ell wanders alone through desolate landscapes recorded from a video game on the boys’ virtual reality headset.
-
Smooth drum and bass crashes into raucous punk rock in Uptight, as Ell adopts the persona of a polite middle-Englander, but struggles to suppress his aggression. The video features members of former band Stonyhills.
-
In Middle Finger Moments, Ell rejects familial respectability and defiantly sells his soul out to Rock and Roll. The footage in the psychedelic video was taken when Ell's young son grabbed his dad’s phone and ran free across a park with the camera running.
-
Friendly Fire is a lilting blue tale of a hot date night which inexplicably froze over the following day.
-
Inspired by a musical camping trip in bonfire-lit woodland, Music Only Knows invites the listener to abandon familiar paths and to seek unknown adventures in the darkness. Responding to a challenge from one of the campers, this emotive 6/8 ballad is written entirely in Haiku meter.
Ell’s future releases will continue to explore themes from his past life through to the happier present day, to complete his first album, with the working title ‘A Hard Place’.
Homepage: ellfree.rocks
Instagram: @ellfreerocks
Youtube: @ellfreerocks
Facebook: @Ellfreerocks
email: elliot.freeman@me.com