Bridgeport | Music | Arts & Culture
Elle Sera’s “Once Was” slides in on a low note before giving way to a guitar riff that’s instantly moody. The melody is smooth, but underneath the music is fraught. Sera picks up a hint of country twang as she raises her voice to the chorus.
Can’t fight it one more time so let’s do it again, do it again
And I’m just going to try to remember to forget everything
Just let the stars in your eyes tell me the story of
Who I once was
It’s that love you know you shouldn’t give into, but always do. The one that keeps you locked in the past instead of moving on to the future.
Relationships wind their way in and out of the songs on Once Was, Bridgeport singer-songwriter Elle Sera’s EP released earlier this month. Each of the five tracks builds musically on the one before it, creating a sonic journey for the listener.
“A theme that I’m constantly writing about, whether it’s prevalent or in the background, is relationships,” Sera said in a recent phone conversation. “Each song [on the EP] is strung to a different relationship in my life.”
The five songs aren’t frozen images of five static relationships either. “As your life changes and different relationships come up” a song can become “connected to someone else, energetically infused with whoever crosses your path," she said.
After the brooding of the title track, “Beautiful Girl” is instantly lighter. But there’s still a darker depth to the music, like the way bright sunlight creates shadows. There’s an open honesty in Sera’s lower register during the verses:
Oh, the many sides of you
And the things I still don’t know yet
There’s a world undiscovered…
So why waste your time covering up the glow?
But that complex feeling shows up in Sera’s soft, throaty lilt as the rise in the melody adds tension right before the first chorus:
You can dance through the fire and laugh at the rain again
And every time out on the other end
And it comes back around in the bridge, when Sera’s voice is strong and veiled at the same time, and she pairs clear, tight riffs with a breathy lilt.
The darkness, the howling, the fever, the mountains
The pain and the glory, in your eyes the story
It’s a self-knowledge and self-love that’s hard won, the kind that comes from getting through a trial and realizing there’s more to your spirit than you thought. The listener can imagine Sera singing it to the narrator of the first song.
“You” is a bright mid-point on the EP, a moment of pure happiness without the shadows. The way this song follows the one before it hints at the way that being whole within yourself first can lead to finding love later.
When the sun came out today
I was thinking about you
And all the sweet and funny ways
You’ve been changing up my tune
This love song also “changes the tune” of the EP. Coming after “Beautiful Girl,” “You” is a fresh sound, with a syncopated, staccato guitar strum that’s loose and fun. The two-note lift at the beginning of each line of the chorus is cute and infectious and the video tells sets up a whimsical wooing, almost like a prequel to the song.
The syncopated guitar strum in “You” is carried over into “Change of Season”, but once there, it dips down into the dark again. As in the first track, there’s another echoey riff like something The Cure might have penned.
Leaving it all, breaking all the rules
And the change in me was the change in you…
Coming up and out was the subtle voice of reason
Bringing me around like a change of season
The verses picks up momentum and the rhythm in the song drives towards change. The relationship explored here feels much more complex than the others in the collection. It’s about when someone you thought you knew suddenly becomes different.
Or it’s about how the perspective of time and maturity reveals the true nature of a relationship you didn’t fully understand in the moment. Or it’s about how the distance created by leaving a situation allows you to see someone with clear eyes.
The driving rhythm of “Change of Season” turns into sticky molasses in the last track, “One That Got Away,” a true ballad in power pop or country style. The beat is slow, steady and unchanging as Sera sings about a love that just won’t be released.
Chains and rope have done no good keeping me from coming here again
Turn to turn I just get burned
Saving that little space for you and I
It’s a torch song sung in the wee hours at the kitchen table, the porch light left on for someone who is just not coming back.
Once Was is Sera’s trademark blend of country pop and rock at its smooth and seamless best. She’s an accomplished singer and Once Was captures in warm precision the roundness of her tones, each breath and lilt and riff. We hear every nuance and that’s a good thing.
It’s also a collection that shows off her craft and strength as a songwriter. She has mastered a set of structures that work hard in her compositions: verses that build in momentum; pre-choruses that set up memorable hooks; bridges that feel like a natural and fully integrated chapter in the story—and quickly become your favorite part of the song. Each track is polished and satisfying.
At the same time, the songs are honest and sensitive, and it’s a winning combination for listeners. Sera guides us on that emotional journey, creating an experience that’s unwittingly like the one she sings about in the first track:
Hold my hand in the dark
Maybe I want more
Elle Sera's Once Was is available for streaming and download on Bandcamp and Spotify. To find out more about the artist, including upcoming performances in Connecticut Oct. 26, 27, and 28, visit her website or Facebook page. Next month, she opens for Jeffrey Gaines at the Acoustic in Bridgeport on Nov. 29. Tickets and more information for that show are available here.