Q&A: Eloise Takes an Emotional Flight With Debut Album ‘Drunk On A Flight’
LIKE A CUP OF BLACK COFFEE WITH DARK CHERRY NOTES — an ominously smooth flight with no turbulence, Eloise’s debut album, Drunk On A Flight, dwells on love with swells and serenest melancholy.
The perfect songs to go with your second cup of coffee for the day (not the one to brace the day, but the one for contemplation), the singer-songwriter perfectly captures a wide array of spiraling thoughts that occur on flights, at the airport, and when alone. Songs such as title track, “Drunk On A Flight,” “Forgive You,” and “Therapist” put thousand-yard stare thoughts to words, accentuated with beautiful balladic instrumentations.
A coming-of-age album focused on growing and moving on from people and events, Eloise wraps feelings with care. Drunk On A Flight validates both emotional messiness and sobering realizations. Dramatic at times, the album never strays away from a warm tone and sunshiney sound, as Eloise proves that sometimes you just have to let it all out and tie it up nicely with a bow.
We caught up with the 23-year-old singer-songwriter over email regarding her writing process, the latest album, and her dream collaborators.
LUNA: Hello! How are you? What’s one song you’re currently obsessed with?
ELOISE: Good! At the moment I can’t stop listening to “Take Time Out” by Oscar Lang. It’s such a perfect song, and it’s been stuck in my head since the first time I heard it.
LUNA: Can you tell me a bit more about the music video for the title track, “Drunk On A Flight”? How did you nail down to the specific characters you included on the set?
ELOISE: The character portrayals were all down to the actors and Balan who directed it. I knew I wanted all the characters to seem fairly blue or run-down so that the dance sequence feels like this beautiful escapism.
LUNA: What was the first song you wrote for the album? The last song? Tell me a bit more about the backstories.
ELOISE: The first song I wrote for the album was “Drunk On A Flight.” It’s one of the only old songs of mine that made it to the album. I remember writing it and knowing I had to call my album that. There has been so much serendipity in my life that led me to writing the album. All the major events that have happened to me over the last five years have coincided with plane journeys. “Drunk On A Flight” was about the morning I went on my first tour and me and my first boyfriend broke up, so my best friend and drummer got me hammered on the flight… I wrote down loads of notes of feelings that ended up inspiring the songs that make up the album. The last song I wrote was “Vanilla Tobacco” and it’s the only song about the thrill of meeting someone and simply falling in love, because I was falling in love by that point. Every time I hear that song it completely transports me to the throws of that early love.
LUNA: Favorite instrumental moment on the album? Favorite lyrical moment?
ELOISE: My favorite instrumental moment is probably the big swell in the title track because it builds so naturally and it’s an homage to D’Angelo. My favorite lyric changes almost daily, but right now it’s maybe “Where do I start? Where does she end?”
LUNA: What inspired “I Take It Back”? Do you have a favorite moment from the creative process?
ELOISE: I mean, I remember getting on a flight from LA back to London, and the turbulence was so dreadful (and I’m an anxious flier anyway) that I started mentally saying goodbye to my loved ones. I think that’s such an interesting feeling — total love and forgiveness comes pouring out when the chips are down, and I wanted to write that as best I could.
LUNA: Who were some of your favorite artists growing up? When you were working on this album, who were some artists you kept in mind throughout the recording process?
ELOISE: Growing up, I listened to a lot of Stevie Wonder, Jamiroquai, Carole King, and John Legend, and the list could go on and on. In terms of keeping an artist in mind when making the album, I didn’t really. The only stuff I was listening to at the time was whatever was on the radio so I suppose I was just listening to loads of pop music.
LUNA: What do you think the color palette for this album looks like? What are some motifs for this album (flowers, coffee, etc.)?
ELOISE: The colors for the album are faded and moody gray-blues and white. A bit airport-y. The motifs were butterflies symbolizing change, hair dye because I had bright pink hair while making the album, and a star constellation that I see a lot, thatI also have in freckles on my arm.
LUNA: Who is a dream collaborator of yours?
ELOISE: A dream collaboration for me would either be Mark Ronson because I’d love to make a classic soul album, and he’s just the guy! Or John Mayer because I’d just love to hear how we sound and write together.
LUNA: What do you look forward to the most for the rest of this year — besides the album coming out, of course!
ELOISE: I’m really looking forward to touring and then getting stuck into the next album! I know exactly what direction I’m going in and I can’t wait to get cooking!
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