Eli isn’t pretentious about music. The New Jersey-born singer, who has been quietly amassing a following through songs that give off the vibes of bedazzled T-Mobile Sidekicks and J-14 magazines, loves pop and does so unabashedly. For her, dismissing the reigning pop girls and legendary divas of the past is “just devoid of understanding of what it means to be a creator and a musician”. “Why would you not be writing for all the people that created the [culture], that have a hand in shaping the voice that you have?” she says incredulously.
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That’s why the 24-year-old leans as far into the “joy of pop” as much as humanly possible. It’s what drives her sublime debut album ‘Stage Girl’, out October 31 – a record partly made up of ’90s pop-R&B in the vein of TLC and Mariah Carey, and partly the bubblegum teen pop of early-noughties Disney Channel stars. “[Making it] was just like, ‘What do I need right now?’” she explains to NME over video call from Los Angeles. Eventually, she arrived at a conclusion: “I need something that feels like all of these things that were there for me when I was eight years old.”
‘Stage Girl’ was made for that younger version of Eli who was captivated by the things she discovered in the CD aisle of Barnes & Noble. As she takes NME back in time and between the store’s racks, she recalls one such experience. “I see the ‘One of the Boys’ Katy Perry album, and I’m seeing her in this crazy big hat and the polka dots, and I’m seeing all these colours and flamingos and it’s grabbing me. I’m locked in. I need to hear every song. It’s colourful and it’s fun, but there’s so much depth under all of that.”
In her childhood, Eli was a “living, breathing theatre kid” who never actually did musicals growing up in the small town of Norfolk, Massachusetts. “I kind of resented the part of my upbringing that wasn’t able to have that outlet,” she reveals, but also owns up to having it in “a weird internet way” as a former Vine star. She later went to New York to study a BFA at NYU – “this arts degree that I didn’t get, but I almost did,” she says cheekily – before releasing a string of singles under a different name and moving to LA.
“We’re at a time where all avenues of artistry and all lanes can exist all at once”
Drawing from Y2K culture isn’t new by any means, but there’s a heightened self-awareness and authenticity with the way Eli does it in her music now that elevates it beyond nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. It’s how she genuinely loves the “mismatched, disgusting, kitschy” outfits of the era or creates lyric videos that look like they were made on Windows Movie Maker, but does so with a nudge and a wink. Much of that comes through on the album’s two breakout singles – girlhood anthem ‘Marianne’ and the “cheesy, cheap piano”-led masterpiece that is ‘Girl Of Your Dreams’. Both have helped her find fans in some of the current pop scene’s leading names, including Troye Sivan, Doechii and Zara Larsson.
‘Girl Of Your Dreams’ was a practice in “instinctual” creation and “pure joy” that happened at the end of a long day in the studio when she and her collaborators (Mike White and Sean Kennedy, known for their work with former NME cover stars Chappell Roan and UPSAHL, respectively) had a bit of extra time. But as much as she works off instinct, ‘Stage Girl’ is also highly tuned and intentional – after all, it is only a 10-song record in an era of 40-song deluxe editions. “I’m a firm believer in cohesion and curation, especially on a debut album,” she says.
The glue tying ‘Stage Girl’ altogether, Eli says, is her vocals: “Beyond writing and producing songs and having a hand in creating videos, ‘Stage Girl’ is a singing album and is about the pure artistry behind singing.” She relates it to a video she saw on TikTok of ’90s pop stars like Christina Aguilera and Destiny’s Child being interviewed on red carpets and talk shows and being asked to sing a cappella on the spot.
“I’m like, ‘That needs to happen’. Honestly, you need to ask me to sing a song right now,” she says, before breaking out into the chorus of ‘Girl Of Your Dreams’ – far from the only time Eli will burst into song during our conversation. “We’re at a time where all avenues of artistry and all lanes can exist all at once. And because they can exist all at once, singing is now also getting its flowers again.”
What’s key for the rising star is fusing that focus on vocals with “something that feels fresh and artistic, and makes the cool Ethel Cain, Lana Del Rey fans that I wish loved my music click with it”. “[It’s] also about blending those worlds, ’cause sometimes they can be separate,” she continues. “Not saying that Ethel and Lana aren’t singing down, because they are, but there’s also a difference in being like, [breaks out into a Mariah Carey-esque run], and whatever’s happening at the Waffle House.”
“Pop Is colourful and it’s fun, but there’s so much depth under all of that”
As Eli waxes lyrical about the ins and outs of both her brand of pop and her peers’, she stumbles upon a revelation. “This conversation is really honing in on the fact that I’m a fan, and you can be a fan and you can also be a star,” she muses. But, for that epiphany to really make sense, you’d need to view it through the lens of the fictional American Idol-style TV singing competition that the singer has created to accompany her debut album.
On YouTube, Eli has been documenting her path to becoming the next stage girl, from bedroom singer to live auditions. Through the series, Eli is unafraid to both poke fun at herself and live her truth, from a cheeky nod to her being an artist who happens to be trans (one of the characters she plays is named ‘Eliza Mann’) to her story as a “small town girl who’s terrified to leave her bedroom”.
It’s a universe that Eli’s growing legion of fans have bought into wholeheartedly as well, sharing their excitement about Stage Girl online and going to shows in character. “When I’m seeing them be like, ‘I’m the next stage girl’, and talk about how they’re gonna fit into Stage Girl, what their talents are and how they’re gonna audition, I’m still having trouble understanding that they’re real because that’s really crazy,” she says.
It might be hard for Eli to get her head around that reaction, but her imminent debut album should only escalate the enthusiasm around her. As she continues to grow, she’s enjoying exploring all the “joy, potential, worth and value” of her artistry, and has big plans for the future, like bringing her one-woman show, also called ‘Stage Girl’, to New York’s theatre stages, followed by Australia because “they stream my music, they’re killing it”.
Half-unironically, she adds: “I believe in astrocartography and I got a reading that said my soulmate is in Australia, so I think I could kill two birds with one stone: become a pop act in Australia and be loved.” Given the way her music is reaching and resonating with listeners, Eli won’t need to worry about securing either of those things pretty soon.
Eli’s debut album ‘Stage Girl’ is out October 31 via Zelig Music/RCA Records