Rising singer-songwriter Ella Clayton has released her newest single Dolomites. The track is the last to be released from her upcoming second album Could It Be You? which is due for release on 24th April.
The track opens with moody keys and barely-there guitar plucks which possess a slightly off-kilter and unnerving edge. The soundscape created is slightly reminiscent of a fairground from a bygone era and when Clayton’s soft and gravelly vocal is introduced the track begins to come alive. Her vocal can be compared to Florence Welch’s where soaring high notes swoop in after a delicate, softer verse. The chorus of “I want to be alone. Why won’t anybody let me be. Why won’t anybody let me be” is sung in a haunting way, further lending a gothic quality to the track. As Dolomites progresses, a faster beat kicks in, the guitars start to swell and Clayton lets loose and harmonises along to the beat. The off-kilter keys return to end the track the way it began and bringing us full circle.
Could It Be You? from which Dolomites is taken will be released on 24th April and speaking of the new album Clayton said “This record is a journey through longing and self-interrogation, the search for something or someone outside of myself to tell me who I am and what I want. I hope that people recognise themselves in these snapshots from my life and take comfort in the shared experience.”
Ella Clayton was born and raised in East London and released her debut album Murmurations in 2022. The positive feedback on the album enabled her to establish herself as a rising voice in the indie folk scene and certainly an act to watch. Murmurations was followed by EP Stairwell in 2023 which is characterised by its stripped-back acoustic sound that’s made even more raw by the fact that all the tracks were recorded in a three-story stairwell.
Clayton has played at various London venues such as The Lower Third, St Pancras Old Church, Green Note and The Waiting Room and has performed at festivals including Truck, Latitude and Bulgaria’s Meadows in the Mountains.
Dolomites is available to stream now. Find out more about Ella Clayton here and have a listen to Dolomites below.