Skip to main content

Maverick Ad

Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Cover Stories
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Legacy Awards
  • Past Covers
  • Weekly Archive
Sonic Shakedown for Canadian Darkwave Pop Artist Elizabeth Leslie

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • Sonic Shakedown for Canadian Darkwave Pop Artist Elizabeth Leslie
Elizabeth Leslie

Elizabeth Leslie
Photo Credit Tanja Tiziana

Fri Feb 28, 2020
Cashbox Canada

Canadian indie darkwave dance-pop artist Elizabeth Leslie releases “To The Next” and Brave Animal, a searingly insightful EP calling attention to a world grappling with problems of man’s making.

“To The Next” is one of three bewitchingly packaged in Brave Animal. The release stands as Leslie’s (she/her) monument to the contemporary ennui of living through climate change and capitalism as a non-binary queer person in a vastly heteronormative society.

Watch “To The Next” here:
https://youtu.be/8GBYZsbK7sY

“I wrote this song a few days after returning from a month-long trip to Europe,” Leslie explains for “To The Next” and its origins. I went to the UK, where my family is from, and Germany. “I had always expected the trip to be as enchantingly foggy, rainy, and temperate as everyone always describes it, but it was spoiled by constant sun, above average (hot) temperatures, bleached yellow grass, and blatant tourism — everywhere. On returning, I realized what is truly at stake: not only is our ecosystem, precious wildlife, and ability to live as a race on this Earth being compromised but so are our dreams. And dreams are what save us from intellectual death… Figuratively, they’re what keep us alive.

“We are destroying everything that is beautiful in humanity and nature. We are destroying our history, our present, and our future all for empty, capitalistic gains… The illusion of ‘having it all’ while destroying it all. We are a highly delusional, self-destructing, patriarchal society on the brink of collapse. Living in our current age is anxiety-provoking and depressing, which is why so many of us are experiencing mental health crises. We know something is wrong.”

Scenery is something Leslie would know; originally from the picturesque province of Nova Scotia, Leslie then spent most of her 20s interwoven through the Montreal music scene, playing in various local indie bands. Her career start was marked by assisting Chromeo, followed by composing with French duo françoise on the synth-pop project, Jesus Poster.

“Brave Animal is a tiny snapshot of different stages of my life over the span of eight years,” she reflects on the EP as a whole. “I made the album mostly on a shoestring budget in my home studio with the help of Gregory Takacs, a film editor and composer I met while working at a visual effects studio in Toronto. Being constantly pushed beyond our limits, we both quit within a month of each other and quickly agreed we’d much rather be working on music.”

Produced by Matt DeMatteo (Esthero, Hawksley Workman), Brave Animal’s production as a whole captures Leslie’s deep contralto vocals standing solid on a vibrating foundation of dark electronic rhythms and industrial drum machines.

“Shortly after, I started working at a music retail store,” she continues on the album’s earliest aughts. “There, I met Greg Hounsell, the guitarist of Brutal Youth. He listened to a few of our demos and was our first fan. He ended up introducing me to legendary music producer, Matt DeMatteo, who I shared instant creative chemistry with. Every version of a song he sent us was fantastically orchestrated… He took the songs to a whole new level. We’re currently collaborating on new material.”

For more visit:
facebook.com/iselizabethreal/
twitter.com/iselizabethreal
instagram.com/iselizabethreal/

Reviews
Album
Elizabeth Leslie
Month: Apr 2025
L-R JP LeBlanc, producer Colin Linden, engineer Mike Stankiewic,  Larry LeBlanc, bass player educator producer David Santos, and  drummer Bryan Owings. JP LeBlanc Releases New Album “All In My Blood”
Marie Minet Photo Credit Daryan Dornelles Marie Minet New Single Release "Je Serais Tout Ce Que Tu Veux"
Month: May 2025
Four Chords and The Truth Four Chords and The Truth Celebrates 10 Years with All-Star…
Jake Clemons Singer//Songwriter/Sax Virtuoso And Multi-Instrumentalist JAKE…
Nige B Nige B's "Morning Drive" Now Top 10 On Indigenous Music…
Sarah Pearson Cape Town’s Sarah Pearson Turns Heartbreak Into Art With “Tainted…
Fiona Ross Photo Credit Steven Tiller Fiona Ross Marks 100-Song Milestone With 'Moments in My…
Katie Ditschun Pop/Folk Artist Katie Ditschun Blooms With Emotion on New Single “In…
Legacy Of Lovers Legacy Of Lovers Rides The Wave With New Single "Calm Cool Connection"
Rachel Cousins Rachel Cousins Releases Tender Anthem "Nora" For The Friends Who Save Us…
Steinruck & Annette Ducharme Steinruck & Annette Ducharme Unveil “Atmosphere” — A Powerful,…
Photo Credit Aqqalunnguaq Heilmann “Katajjaq Will Never Be Silenced”: Silla’s Dual Singles Reclaim…
Glowing Hearts Project “This Is Not America”:  Halifax’s The Glowing Hearts Project…
Neena Rose NEENA ROSE RELEASES HEARTFELT TRIBUTE FOR MOTHER’S DAY: "I Love…
Capital Music Week Ottawa Launches New Nationally Focused Music Event: Capital Music Week…

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 139
  • Page 140
  • Page 141
  • Page 142
  • Page 143
  • Page 144
  • Page 145
  • Current page 146
  • Page 147
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

CEO/PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF
SANDY GRAHAM

email:sandygrahamemg@gmail.com 

Canadian Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Don Graham
email: dongrahamwriter@gmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Lisa Hartt
email: lisahartt87@hotmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada 
Michael Williams
email: greydread@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

International Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Malin Osth
email: malin@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Jonas Tancred
email: jonas@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - USA
Rob Durkee 
email: rockster2746@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Developer/Technical Support
Chris Wardman

email: info@chriswardman.com
website: chriswardman.com

Cashbox Cover Design and Graphic Artist
Jain McMillan

email: jainmcmillan@gmail.com

Contributing Photographer 
Tracey Savein - South Paw Productions
southpawproductions@rogers.com

 

 

 

Footer menu

  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Archive
  • Issue Archive
  • Past Covers