Singer-songwriter Elle Sera is hard to classify: “I’m usually an odd woman out, because my music doesn’t fall into one category,” she says of her music overall and her upcoming EP, Little Fire (Feb. 25). I always lead with my voice – if that were a genre, it would be mine.” The first single, “Never Give Up,” is out now.
The voice she mentions leading with showcases a convergence of grit and grace. Effortlessly, Sera flows through blues, rock, pop and country, with a singer-songwriter base holding it all together. With pure emotion and intention – all pouring out of a barely 5’ frame – it’s a true wonder to experience the size of her voice, faceted with texture, power and deliberate sensitivity.
“More than any other collection I’ve put out, these songs were all written in the same timeframe, while going through some pretty big pitfalls and growth in my life,” she says of the four-song collection. “Nothing seemed to make sense or matter much and I’d felt lost and confused by so much of everything and nothing at the same time.”
“Sunshine & Twilight,” the first song finished for the EP, finds Sera processing big shifts and looking forward, eager to move on from the loose ends she was in the midst of tying up.
“Never Give Up” was a last-minute addition to a studio session — written in just an hour the night before. The song acted as a reminder for Sera that the fight for who she wanted to become was worth the pain, heartache, confusion, tears and darkness, because what was on the other side was a whole new person — and hopefully a whole new way of seeing life and being in the world.
“Little Fire” sat as a voice memo in Sera’s phone for years, and eventually became a statement about the EP as a whole. “Riding out the storm with a fury / Waiting at the horizon’s edge / With just a little fire in my head,” she sings.
The title of “Simple Life” is an apt descriptor for the last song on the EP. “My favorite line of this song is ‘get the dog on the passenger side’ and I think that sums up the whole tune and maybe my life,” Sera says. “Sometimes the best thing to do is quiet the mind, lose distractions and just be. Pets also help a lot.”
Sera began performing as a small child, standing up at an “Alice in Wonderland” performance at age 5 after realizing her small life’s new purpose. While her beginnings as a child were rooted in professional radio, TV, Broadway and film, she let those aspirations go after attending NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. After college, Sera began teaching herself guitar and committed to songwriting. Through her lens of experience on love, life, joy, pain, loss and spirituality, Sera draws listeners close, offering connection and inspiration within her songs.
“I knew I needed to simplify my world and work on self worth and becoming stronger. Old ideas were shedding and new ones were forming. I think each of these songs explored a different side of that process, from depression to confusion to anger and falling into the reaching for ease and grace,” she says of the EP.
“For me, Little Fire lays out the journey of life, never solved, only managed time and time again.”
