Doors Open: 6.45pm // Kinder: 7.15pm // Elderbrook: 8.15pm
Secret Sounds presents
ELDERBROOK
(UK)
Live phenomenon. Classically-trained multi-instrumentalist. Producer. Singer-songwriter who has worked with top-tier names including Camelphat, Rudimental, Diplo, Black Coffee and more. Tours with Jungle, Bonobo and Friendly Fires. Over 1.5 billion streams. Grammy and Ivor Novello nominee.
Elderbrook isn’t one thing or another thing. In the modern electronic world, he’s the type of multi-faceted, forward-thinking talent who is comfortable exploring a range of genres. He exploded onto the scene with 2017 global smash ‘Cola’, a collaboration with Camelphat that has sold over 7 million copies worldwide, earned him Grammy and Ivor Novello nods, plus a No.1 on the US Dance Airplay Chart.
He has gone on to receive plaudits from Annie Mac - performing in the BBC Radio 1 Rave Lounge - Pete Tong, Diplo and Toddla T, as well as performing on platforms including COLORS, Mahogany and receiving a steady stream of international press.
And then in 2020 Elderbrook became something else: an album artist. Titled Why Do We Shake in the Cold?, the eleven-track release signalled a new chapter in the story of this wild spirit. “I love all different kinds of music – pop music, underground electronic techno, I love it all,” he expands. “I wouldn’t want to limit myself in any way.”
The LP was a hit: a critically-acclaimed sonic journey that featured some of Elderbrook’s finest tracks to date, including a vibrant Rudimental collaboration ‘Something About You’. Ultimately, it was an exploration into human interaction.
“The whole concept of Why Wo We Shake In The Cold is thinking about how humans interact with each other. Obviously, shaking in the cold, scientifically speaking, might be just to warm up your body through friction. But what I imagine is that maybe people shake to show other people that they need them.
“That’s a big thing lyrically for my album. All the songs are about human interaction and people needing each other. And I think that title is a really good way of embodying that in a physical form. That’s important to me.”
A year on, Elderbrook would make a contribution to another era-defining album, teaming up with fellow musical visionaries Black Coffee and Diplo on ‘Never Forget’. A single and album track on Black Coffee’s Grammy-nominated LP inspirational Subconsciously, the emotion-tinged electro-acoustic jam is propelled by Eldebrook’s soaring, pitch-perfect vocals.
Then he had the daunting task of following up on Why Wo We Shake In The Cold. He did so with the stunning EP ‘Inner Light’, a four-track release that pushed his sound into bold, exciting new territories. Where Why Wo We Shake In The Cold was a deeply personal record, ‘Inner Light’ was characterised by collaborations. On the title track, a poignant, emotionally-charged dose of electronica, he links up with fellow global superstars Bob Moses, ‘I’ll Find My Way To You’ is a rousing track that pairs lush melodies with the evocative vocals of LA-based artist Emmit Fenn, life-affirming melodic techno creation ‘Broken Mirror’ was produced by dance music master Kölsch, while the stunning ‘Dominoes’ features US electronic duo Louis The Child and finds Elderbrook at his most vulnerable.
“The EP is all about how important it is to trust your instincts and believe that you do have the right ideas,” he explains. “That it’s important to follow your own inner light. It represents the journey of self-discovery that I have been on since becoming a father and learning how to navigate that and trust in myself.”
Now Elderbrook is in the midst of a massive world tour - taking in no fewer than 31 dates across Europe and North America. This has already included sold-out performances at London’s Electric Ballroom and LA’s NOVO, with landmark shows at Terminal 5 in New York and the iconic Odesza Amphitheatre in Red Rocks to look forward to in the new year.
But whatever the size of the room, whatever the sound of his vocal, whatever the speed of the beat, for Elderbrook it’s all about one thing: connection.
For the artist who isn’t one thing or another thing in the modern electronic world, that connectivity is everything. “That’s what I try and do, whatever I’m doing: I try to write from a personal point of view. But it’s personal things that everyone feels, and I think it comes back to people needing people, interaction, anything to beat loneliness – but also, just showing that you can be vulnerable.”
After a whirlwind few years, Elderbrook’s unwavering artistic creativity continues to drive his career forward at an exponential rate.