Q&A: Ethereal Enchantment: Ethel Explores the Subconscious in Debut “The Burden of Fever Dreams”
HAVING CAST A SPELL — with her debut single “Pixie Dust” late last year, Paris-based songstress Ethel continues to welcome listeners into her sonic realm with her debut EP release The Burden of Fever Dreams accompanied by lead singles “Passing Ships” and “Pixie Dust.”
The title of her EP, The Burden of Fever Dreams, hints at a fascination within the subconscious.
“You know how when you get a fever, you almost reach a second state, this new shape of thoughts,” Ethel says. “When going through intrusive and depressive thoughts, I was thinking about how it can make you feel like you’re a whole different person, different lenses, different perspectives. And it feels like it will be like this forever. Fever dreams are kind of like that – they can feel like a refuge – and I would love for my songs to feel like another dimension.”
Across the project, Ethel’s voice conjures that kind of ethereal spirit, drifting into falsetto and speaking in ellipsis. The production matches the entrancing energy, seamlessly blurring genres and moments together, from mournful guitars and vocal clips on “Passing Ships” to soaring synths and funky kick drums on “Pixie Dust.” Both ambitiously sprawling and effortless at once.
“I wanted the sound of the EP to be kind of mysterious and to not be able to really pinpoint where it's from or when it's from,” Ethel says. “I didn’t want it to feel too representative of the sound of today.”
“Passing Ships” constructs an eerie world imbued by Ethel’s soulful vocals, set atop paced-out grooves, surging synths and pulsating kick drums. Teaming up with long-time collaborator Banshee (The Great) on production duties, “Passing Ships” is a poignant exploration of maintaining relationships among the tumult of mental health struggles.
Speaking about the meaning of the song, Ethel says, “‘Passing Ships’ explores commitment issues, insecurities, and the impossibility to hold secure relationships due to anxiety and depressive states. It is about being stuck in patterns of self-sabotage as we deliberately run away from things we know are good for us. This song is like a warning, almost a prayer dedicated to a loved one for them to stay, despite the many cries that may arise.”
LUNA: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Luna Magazine. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar, what inspires your artistic style and creative persona?
ETHEL: I would say my inspiration comes from various sources: films, conversations, artists’ interviews, car rides, and all the music I have loved over the years and grew up with that subconsciously became ingrained in my mind and made their way into my own music.
LUNA: What artists inspire you, either lyrically or instrumentally
ETHEL: Lately I have been very inspired by artists such as Sampha and James Blake – I have been listening to both of their latest albums on repeat. I just love how their music is a collage of unexpected sonics put together. I’m also very inspired by artists who create a world within each project they put out both sonically and visually; such as FKA Twigs, Solange and Tyler the Creator. Lyrically I’ve recently been loving Cleo Sol – her writing is so intuitive and raw.
LUNA: You released your debut EP The Burden of Fever Dreams and a huge congratulations is in order! I absolutely adore the title of the project and would like to know its inspiration?
ETHEL: Thank you! This title idea came about while on a plane ride, half asleep. I was listening to this podcast by Joe Dispenza who talked about how he didn’t want to take medication when he had a fever as a kid just to access other levels of consciousness. He expressed how fever dreams taught him there were many aspects to who we are that exist simultaneously which means there are ways to break from the patterns that keep us from becoming who we want to be. This EP is definitely tainted with a lot of my insecurities and how they hide in all parts of life, so it is about accessing those levels of consciousness and how they can sometimes be hard to look at.
LUNA: What is the inspiration behind The Burden of Fever Dreams and what did the creative process look like?
ETHEL: I got very inspired by Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, and I would say it was the real starting point in writing this EP. I had never seen a film that expressed so much by leaving almost no hint. We get to know everything without being told much. It touched a major chord within my unconscious mind and inspired a lot of the writing. This is the first body of work I’m putting out, but it came to life because of many aborted projects, so I like to say this is a patchwork of experiences and attempts I’ve accumulated over the years. My producer Banshee The Great built a really comfortable space for me to open up and sonically explore as much as I could before we got to our finished product.
LUNA: Your song “Pixie Dust” is a sneak glimpse into the world of The Burden of Fever Dreams. Why did you choose this to be your first release off the EP?
ETHEL: I felt like this was the best track to help prepare listeners for what would come next - it is somewhat different from my previous single “Andromeda,” so it was a good way to showcase my versatility and desire to not stick to a strictly defined genre.
LUNA: You just released “Passing Ships” and it touches on mental health struggles and it’s very intimate and introspective. What is the inspiration behind the single?
ETHEL: It was a time where I had accumulated a lot of demos and didn’t really know what the EP was going to look like. Sometimes you just need that one song that’s going to tie everything together and help tell the right story. In the midst of this search, my producer Banshee found this producer on YouTube called Lovén – and listening to his beats, it really felt like he would help us find that missing piece we needed, so we decided to fly him over for a week to work with us… which resulted in us making “Passing Ships.” The writing process was extremely exciting and fluid. Banshee had an immediate creative spark and created the loop within minutes – which was then completed by some background vocals by Lovén before I laid down almost all the melodies of the verses and chorus. I felt strongly about wanting to keep the intention of that first take by staying faithful to the gibberish and how it sounded. I really love when the process is sort of abstract and surprising, so you don’t really know what the song is about until you fill out the words to the gibberish. Turns out the lyrics revealed exactly what I was feeling at the time.
LUNA: What was the most rewarding song to bring to life from the EP and why is it your favorite? Is there a certain message or aspect that stands out to you the most?
ETHEL: Definitely “Wannago?” We made this one in Los Angeles with another amazing producer, Zach Ezzy. It is my favorite because it has this melancholic yet buoyant feeling to it that I love, it is bittersweet. It contains a sample we created from scratch of my own voice which I found unexpected and surprising to build the song over.
LUNA: What messages, emotions or story do you hope to convey with The Burden of Fever Dreams?
ETHEL: With this EP, I wanted to tell stories as if they were time capsules, conveying both melancholy and intimacy. It is a sketchbook of thoughts and feelings – almost like a diary.
LUNA: What are you most excited for to have your debut project released?
ETHEL: Keeping a project ready for a long time before its release can make you feel dissociated from it after a while, so sharing it with the world is finally going to make me realize I really did this! I’m also very excited to start playing live.
LUNA: What is your wildest dream as an artist? If you can have one thing happen (a milestone or dream collaboration you hope to achieve in your career), what would that look like for you?
ETHEL: Wildest dream: TikTok doesn’t exist anymore and not all artists have to do reels hoping to get discovered. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate a lot of people who are naturally good at this, but it personally makes me deviate from creating better music and better visuals. A milestone collaboration would definitely be Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator, Kendrick Lamar or RZA. If I could someday just see one of them working in a studio just to learn from their process without even being a part of it, that would already go beyond my dreams.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would like to share with Luna?
ETHEL: I feel really excited and grateful to be in an era where there is still everything to build. I’m incredibly free in the creative choices I get to make, because they are not ruled by any sort of expectation. The rest of my year is going to revolve around finishing this next project I started working on! I’m hoping to do more shows and get to collaborate on other projects!
