Photo Credit: Becca Hamel (@beccahamel)
By Alissa Arunarsirakul // March 19, 2020
After moving from Wales to Canada, ELIO treated her bedroom like a studio and taught herself how to write, record, and produce music all on her own. At just 22 years old, the Los Angeles-based songstress has truly mastered her infectious pop soundscape that we’re so desperate to hear. With her debut EP due this summer, ELIO is just getting comfortable with her first single, “My Friends Online.”
On “My Friends Online,” ELIO shared,
“I’m learning when my phone is serving me and when it takes me out from experiencing life. To be honest, I didn’t realize I was so caught up in social media and the need to feel connected until I was writing ‘My Friends Online’ last November. It’s weird that a lot of people that I know, I’ve never met in person but they’re also not strangers to me. I didn’t realize how extreme and crazy it is to be invested in so many people’s lives that you would never actually see past your phone. I feel like that’s such a big thing for my generation and how connected we really feel to the people around us.”
Being a member of Generation Z, it only makes sense that ELIO has been accustomed to the Internet, technology, and social media for most of her life. “My Friends Online” has ELIO recognizing that there are pros and cons to this lifestyle; although it may steer us away from being face-to-face with humans, it can also aid those who already feel ostracized in the real world. Especially at a time like what we’re currently experiencing, the electronic pop melodies and blaring message in “My Friends Online” are quite fitting.
“As I’ve been getting ready to release ‘My Friends Online’ this week, five months after I wrote it, I’ve been thinking about how now, more than ever, we really are blessed to have the technology we have when we can’t be together physically, but sometimes it’s hard to find the balance. I think, mentally, the next few weeks will be hard for a lot of people, myself included, since being home alone only consists of socials and Netflix, but learning when you feel good communicating on your phone and when you don’t is a huge thing to maintain a healthy relationship with it. My generation loves to joke about how distant and self-isolating they have been for their whole lives, but now it’s serious and we actually have to look out for one another.”
The Hidden Hits 