\u201cThe juxtaposition of grit and beauty is the very essence of my art,\u201d says Baltimore singer\/songwriter\/producer Elon Battle, aka :3LON. \u201cIt\u2019s my favourite way to convey drama. I want people to feel heaviness and ethereal all at once. I want people to rage and mosh but cry and be vulnerable at the same time.\u201d
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That\u2019s a difficult balance to strike, and to achieve it, :3LON practices a volatile alchemy. His is a unique and startling blend of sweet R&B, lush ambient, tough beats and industrial crunch. In a raw and delicate countertenor, he weaves epic yet intimate tales inspired by fantasy RPGs and Japanese animation.
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\u201cAggression and softness. Brooding torment and violent happiness. That\u2019s what I like about anime, it sends you through a range of emotion.\u201d
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:3LON\u2019s \u201cAria of Resilience\u201d, released last September as a precursor to a forthcoming EP, is exemplary of his approach,
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\u201cThe producer, Sentinel, and I exchanged quite a few ideas about what images the song we wanted to make would provoke,\u201c Battle recalls. \u201cWe talked about medieval fantasy steampunk concepts, and what life in that world would entail. We agreed that we wanted to create something with an industrial, death-metal feel fused with classical elements.\u201d
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They did so, and the classical element, a memorable harp medieval lick, came from a surprising source. It\u2019s a brilliant creative gesture in principle that totally works musically.
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\u201cSentinel mentioned that he had heard something about a song that was written secretly in a Hieronymus Bosch painting, and we began to do research. He found this video clip of someone playing out the notes that were written on the butt of a character in the Bosch painting \u2018The Garden of Earthly Delights\u2019.
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\u201cSentinel sampled the clip he found and began to chop it, then build around it. I immediately began writing lyrics, everything happened really fast. I wanted to tell a story about a person left behind after their loved one has gone to fight in a war against uprising forces. We got our friend Mathew Sea to add some finishing touches, and to mix and master. The rest was history.\u201d
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As one might expect, an artist of such pronounced contrasts is unlikely to limit himself to the nightclub stage, and the alternatives Battle explores are elaborate and startling.
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Last year, Battle contributed to Circuit City<\/em>, a choreopoem concocted by Philadelphia musician\/composer Moor Mother, aka Camae Ayewa of Black Quantum Futurism Collective. \u201cI think we\u2019ll be doing more of that this year,\u201d Battle notes, Meanwhile, \u201cAria of Resilience\u201d has inspired Petrichor<\/em>, a video installation by Swiss-based South Korean artist Sinae Yoo (with Battle in the short film\u2019s cast), currently popping up at high-end European galleries. The sweaty little showbar remains a platform for Battle, though, and so he\u2019ll be opening for savvy, subtly political synth-pop act Lower Dens (likewise from B-more) this week \u2013 looks like Friday the 13th<\/sup> is lucky, for a change. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThe juxtaposition of grit and beauty is the very essence of my art,\u201d says Baltimore singer\/songwriter\/producer Elon Battle, aka :3LON. \u201cIt\u2019s my favourite way to convey drama. I want people to feel heaviness and ethereal all at once. I want people to rage and mosh but cry and be vulnerable at the same time.\u201d That\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":12324,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[4628],"tags":[],"genre":[3075,3155,4353,3265],"class_list":["post-12383","interviews","type-interviews","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews-en","genre-ambient-2-electronic","genre-electronic","genre-industrial","genre-rb-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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