Louisiana singer/songwriter Caleb Elliott will release his debut album Forever To Fade on March 8th on Single Lock Records. On the album’s twelve tracks, Elliott (with producer Ben Tanner of the Alabama Shakes), layers soulful string scores over that booming, dirty-sweet groove that gave name to the Muscle Shoals Sound and John Cale-inspired arrangements.
This swamp-art-rock record bridges the distance between the classically-trained sideman Elliott was to the songwriting frontman he’s become; the 480 miles between his musical origins in Natchitoches, Louisiana and a gothic upbringing inside a cult-style religion to finding mental and artistic liberation.
While riding in the backseats of tour vans with Nicole Atkins, Dylan LeBlanc and Travis Meadows, and backing other artists like Lera Lynn, John Paul White, Donnie Fritts and Sean McConnell in the studio, Elliott never stopped writing his own materials. To record Forever To Fade, he joined forces with Tanner and Alabama Shakes bassist Zac Cockrell, while John Paul White added backing vocals. Forever to Fade shows he’s ready to take the wheel.
Today Glide is excited to premiere “Burns Like Hell”, one of the standout tracks on the new album. The song comes in with a Phil Spector-like wall of gorgeous sounds that complement Elliott’s vocals the the angelic harmonies backing him up. As he reflects on relationship that just can’t be figured out by the people involved, Elliott lets his soft yet commanding voice soar over lush pop instrumentation that feels like it could have come out of a studio in the 60s or 70s. With much of the excitement centered around Single Lock Records, “Burn Like Hell” is only further proof that some of the most interesting and original indie rock is happening these days in the Deep South.
Elliott describes the song in his own words:
“I initially got hooked with the chord progression. It has a light-hearted feel that I wanted to counter with a darker, more poignant lyric about love lost and a fallout of self deception. Burns Like Hell really is a story of two people that couldn’t quite come to terms with what they saw in each other, but also didn’t want to let go.”
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Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins
