Premiere: Elroy Shares Single 'Excite Me Much' + Announces Debut Album

Elroy Finn is no stranger to lovers of local music, he's regularly pounded the skins with his father and brother Neil & Liam Finn's projects including their 2018 album Lightsleeper, and has shared the stage with the likes of Connan Mockasin and Wild Nothing. The Auckland-based artist has been attracting fans for his own solo psychedelic guitar-pop stylings with a recent run of relatively low profile but no less compelling releases under the nom de plume of Elroy. He's now declared his debut self-titled collection is dropping this month, and unveiled the record's celestial latest single 'Excite Me Much'. Melt in your mouth melodies meet the smoothest of grooves on Elroy's new tune, rolling around what kind of action could possibly shake him out of his dreamy daze, and conjuring the perfect taster for the album ahead.

Elroy is kicking off his record's reign with a mid-week release party with six piece band at Auckland's Neck Of The Woods, supported by youthful psych-pop talent Thorington and iconic local DJ's Matthew Crawley and Tina Turntables. Annabel Kean touched base with the artist via email to gab about his keenly-awaited solo record and forthcoming plans – wrap your ears around 'Excite Me Much' and read their chat below...

Elroy's Album Release Show
w/ support from Thorington + and DJs Matthew Crawley & Tina Turntables
Wednesday 29th May - Neck of the Woods, Auckland (doors 7pm, free entry / koha exit)

Annabel Kean: 'Excite Me Much' is a stunner – can you tell me about how it came about and how it’s developed?

Elroy: 'Excite Me Much' was one of the few songs on the record that didn’t take that long to write or record. I wrote the guitar part the morning after my brother’s wedding, I’ve found that a hungover state can be quite good for writing music. Then about a month later I finished it while I was staying in my friend’s tiny bedroom in Brooklyn. I have a strong sense of nostalgia when I think about making that song.

Your debut album has been a few years in the making, did you put a lot of thought into the release date?

The album was put together over quite a few years, because I was learning how to record and figuring out what I wanted it to sound like. I finished it at the end of 2017. It’s definitely taken a lot longer than anticipated to get it out into the world, this is due to number of reasons that aren’t super interesting. But essentially about a month ago, I decided it had to come out ASAP, so picked a date (May 31st), and now getting my head around how you release stuff.

How does it sound compared to when you first started writing it? Are there many tracks that have been in the works the whole time?

It sounds way better than it did when I started writing it, as I didn’t have a clue what I was doing at first. Lots of the songs have existed as ideas for a long time, but they all changed a lot as I got closer to finishing it. I think it sounds pretty cohesive when I listen to it now. There’s things I may have done differently if I was finishing it now, but it’s a representation of where I was at musically a couple years ago, which I think is cool, it’s important to let stuff go sometimes. I’m making another album at the moment so I can put my new skills, aesthetic, and focus into that.

What are your tour plans?

My tour plans are minimal at this point, I’m doing an album launch show on the 29th of May at Neck of the Woods with a 6 piece band of some of my closest friends. It’s an absolute luxury being able to have such a big band but it makes the idea of touring seem financially pretty intimidating. I’m currently putting together a live show that I could do solo or with one or 2 people in order to make some international touring a bit more feasible.

When we talked to you last year you were thinking of studying – is that still the case?

Yeah I am still really into that idea. I’d like to focus on massage / physiotherapy and also some sort of sociology degree I think. It’s in the pipeline, but for now I’m focusing on being more prolific with my songwriting, releasing music and giving this whole thing a go.

'Elroy' is out Friday 31st May via Rhythmethod / DRM.