Review Summary: A compelling collection of lush electronics, deep bass beats, captivating choruses, and Elif’s emotive vocals.
Elif is a German musician of Turkish descent. I first discovered her when Floor Jansen (Nightwish / ex-After Forever) covered her song “Freunde” for the television show
Sing meinen Song. It was an excellent electro-rock/hip-hop track, but since Floor had remade the track to suit her own style, I wasn’t sure what Elif’s music actually sounded like. My initial time hearing Elif didn’t help. The first time I heard Elif perform, she was covering Floor’s solo single “Fire” for the same show. It was a very faithful rendition that showcased Elif’s soft endearing voice. My interest was immediately piqued, but I still didn’t know what her personal style was going to be. It turns out Elif has nothing to do with the rock & metal scene of Floor Jansen. On
Endlich Tut Es Wieder Weh Elif’s style is an excellent blend of electronics, pop, and hip-hop.
Endlich Tut Es Wieder Weh (roughly translated to “It Finally Hurts Again”) blends these genres to create a series of chill tracks full of lush electronics, deep bass beats, captivating choruses, and Elif’s emotive vocals. What she is actually singing about is anyone’s guess, but I don’t speak German and I honestly don’t want to know. Without knowing what she’s saying, I can make the words mean whatever I want based on just her tones and delivery. In my head with only the translated album title to influence me, it really feels like these songs are all some sort of post-trauma narrative where Elif is finally allowing a sense of vulnerability again. That means some of these songs sound tentatively hopeful while others are more subdued and reflective. This theory is based on the tones she chooses for the music as well as the wavering vocal style she often uses which reminds of someone trying to talk while feeling emotionally overwhelmed. That doesn’t mean the album is some sort of mopey trudge, though.
Endlich Tut Es Wieder Weh features a few upbeat tracks where she utilizes more of a rhythmic delivery, there’s subdued ballads which are some of my favorites, and there’s some lush mid-paced songs that kind of remind me of Sadistik or even mainstream trip hop.
Almost none of these tracks break the three-minute mark, which is just enough time to catch the groove and melt into the atmosphere while Elif takes you through a snack-sized emotional trip. Obviously, part of my attraction to
Endlich Tut Es Wieder Weh could be the
exotic German vocals which allow me to superimpose my own thoughts and interpretations on every song, but there’s more to it than that. The element that makes this more is the voice of Elif. Her smooth delivery and that wavering style she uses simply sucks in me in. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the lush melodies and hip-hop influences are excellently done, as well. While I don’t know how
Endlich Tut Es Wieder Weh compares to Elif’s previous three albums, I can say with one-hundred percent certainty that this one is a impeccably compelling collection of lush electronics, deep bass beats, captivating choruses, and Elif’s emotive vocals.
