One of the brightest lights of 21st century music has been Elsa Hewitt. After releasing a few albums of bedroom folk in the 2000s, she really came into her own with Cameras From Mars, the first of “three excellent albums Hewitt released [in 2017], spanning electro-pop, ambient and collage-like sounds.” When I included Dum Dum Spiro, the middle of the trilogy, in my 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s, I wrote:
Hewitt has created a musical universe of rare charm that has become an important part of my galaxy of listening. Catch up.
After a breakneck pace of seven albums in five years - all of which were represented in my top 25 lists (see below), Hewitt put a pause on her output, though she kept on working on her music as she lived her life. That ended a little over a week ago, when she posted a poetic little video with the intriguing caption, “A video to reflect the flickering of memories and impressions when you’ve just reached the end of a significant phase of life. New tracks coming soon.”
Just reading those words made my heart lift. Then she announced her Eighth album, Chaos Emeralds, which is coming on April 12, and released the first single. Often when an artist I feel so strongly about takes a hiatus their return can be accompanied by some anxiety: what if it’s not as good? In this case, however, I found myself totally relaxed when pressing play on Citrinitas. I just knew it would be great - and it is!
A marvelous miniature mind movie, with a gentle rattle of percussion, the sounds of nature, multi-colored, layered synths, and Hewitt’s lilting voice, Citrinitas is just as sublime as I’ve come to expect from her.
If you like how that sounds, preorder the album and catch up on her remarkable back catalog so Elsa Hewitt becomes a part of your galaxy, too.
Are we fellow travelers in the Elsa Hewitt universe? Or is this your introduction?
From the Archives:
Best Of 2021: The Top 25
Best Of 2020: The Top 25
Best Of 2019: The Top 25
Best Of 2018: The Top 25
Best Of 2017: The Top 25
Note: the graphic above is based on a photograph by Emily Coxon (@justemilyexploring on IG)
I'm a recent discoverer of Elsa Hewitt's music. Just got a copy of LUPA in the mail this week (and pre-ordered the new one). There's not a lot of info about her online (not even on her website), so your review and summary of her music and history was much appreciated. P.S. I'm also new to substack and still trying to decide what to write about but leaning towards musings about underappreciated music.