Emma Harvey, known by her aliases “Yungelita” or “Elita Harkov” is the lead singer of the band Elita — named after her persona. Previously popular on social media and running her own jewelry brand, Elita brings her vocal expertise to the band’s new album “Hell Hill.”
Each track utilizes warping in sound effects and instrumentals to embellish the already mechanical elements within the songs. Harvey’s vocals are almost angelic, juxtaposing with the grittiness of the music to create a harmonious pair.
Every song features simple lyrics with often repetitive lines and vocals, but with every song being shorter with evocative lyrics it’s done in a way that pushes the themes without becoming too monotonous.
The songs range in theme, with many songs touching on sexuality, intrusive thinking, and paranoia. Each song finds beauty in abstraction. One song — aptly titled “Only Famous For My Tits” — explores Harvey’s experiences with objectification online. This track is one of my favorites; the music is hard and mechanical yet somehow soft, and its lyrical content was emotional in its delivery.
Another one of my favorites, “Meat Monster,” delves into misogyny and how it affects a woman’s psyche. The song is much softer and calmer than others within “Hell Hill,” and its short lines are almost more impactful as the listener will feel its deep emotional bearing and still be able to align their own personal experiences with its evocation.
A lot of the tracks leave a visceral feeling I can only describe as “womanhood” — exploring mental health issues and connections to femininity and darkness, with a lot of the themes being tied to the perception or experience of being a woman.
“Hell Hill,” the album’s title track, is the longest on the album at 9 minutes 42 seconds. It is a majority instrumental track with only some small echoes of Harvey’s voice enmeshed in the background, and small uses of eerie vocal effects here and there.
The instrumental is warped in a way that perfectly illustrates dissociation and depersonalization. It feels like a musical representation of Harvey reaching the dark parts within her own mind and feeling disconnected from the human plane. There are parts of the track where it completely shifts from acoustic guitar with heavy, dreamlike effects to nightmarish, abstract mechanical sounds.
Those who like “Machine Girl” and “Grimes’” older work should check out Elita’s new album, “Hell Hill.”
“Hell Hill” explores Elita’s previous alternative sound in new and creative ways that tie in similar aspects from past work of the group and from the two aforementioned artists.
It left me feeling incredibly emotional, but was also quite enjoyable to listen to, where some songs that elaborate on similar topics and sounds can feel a bit dull or draining to listen to, I sat for each song and thoroughly enjoyed them all.
I usually expect to come out of an album with a few songs that really impact me and end up leaving the rest behind, but Elita’s “Hell Hill” is 45 minutes of pure bliss — something I’ll come back to from start to finish.
