The latest emerging talent in the Scottish synth pop revolution spearheaded by Chvrches and further propagated by the likes of Prides and KLOË, 20-year-old Highlands-born Aylee – formerly known as Eilidh Hadden – is staking her claim as a singer-songwriter-producer with talent, drive, and self-fostered vision to spare. ‘Flatline’, taken from her recent Learn To Swim EP, is testament to this, as she goes all-out for her art form.
https://soundcloud.com/thisisaylee/flatline/s-3kjcB
Softly glimmering synths and scattering vocal glitches give way to a track imbued with such absorptive power and elevated abandon (particularly in its chorus) that it is easy to understate the sheer ability displayed on ‘Flatline’. Densely pounding tribal beats and rhythms mingle conspicuously with electronic melodies both lilting and maximal, creating a liminal feel that repeatedly pulls you in, out and through the softness of Aylee’s voice and the stomping, sharp-edged patterning of the drums and stabbing keys.
Hadden’s vocals are intensely strong, providing the heft needed to cut through the accomplished production with a soft, unfaltering clarity that inhabits the territory between the gentler airs of Ellie Goulding (a key influence in both style and determination, as cited by Aylee herself) and the immense folk-pop melodic style of Florence Welch. She sings “I’m running for my life / So I can fight the flatline”, reflecting her ethos and approach in creating music in that, for her, it’s all or nothing.
Writing and co-producing her own music from self-taught beginnings (at least with regards to making electronic music) is no mean feat, and with the distinct sheen and professional lustre of her sound on ‘Flatline’, Aylee proves – through the complexity and depth of the song’s structure, as well as the high standard of production overseen by herself and Prides’ Lewis Gardiner – that she is only just getting started.
Words by Tom Grantham
@_katelush