The Knife, The Needle, the debut album from Elanor Moss was initially recorded in New York City, but Moss felt haunted by a different, quieter version of the record within her own mind. She felt those recordings were “too rollicking” and were lacking in weirdness and Englishness. Eventually, Moss scrapped the sessions and decided to begin anew, decamping to a cabin in the Scottish Highlands with her band of collaborators, recording live to tape. The resulting album is a haunting collection of psych-folk littered with themes of intimacy, memory, and time.
Moss sought a spare, but symphonic approach to the arrangements and leaned upon her collaborator Matthew Herd to channel the elegant and open arrangements found on records by folk legends like Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, and Vashti Bunyan. Anchored by Moss’s powerful voice and Herd’s arrangements, the songs on The Knife, The Needle play out like dream sequences from a lost Bergman film.
During our conversation, Elanor and I discussed the spectre of the Church in her West Midlands childhood, and how that experience may have informed a form of moralistic storytelling within her own songs. We also covered her early discovery of Joni Mitchell and the portal that opened into the wonderful, complex world of folk music. We hit upon our innate desire to be a part of something larger than ourselves, and Elanor and I leap headlong into our shared lifelong appreciation for symbolism.
Let’s get into it.
Cheers,
Matty C
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End Credits
Thanks so much to Elanor for joining me. You can find out all about her tour dates and recordings at https://www.elanormoss.com/
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