Eleri Angharad: Snake Like You

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Eleri Angharad leaves you in no doubt what her message is: after a few bars of guitar strum, her new song starts with a plaintive, accusative, echoing cry: "A snake like you ...". This paves the way for country-tinged guitars to break in and set up the musical themes. That lyrical element becomes a key building block of the song as it develops - it's very cleverly done.

'Snake Like You' brings together some familiar elements of life: deception, betrayal, and the frustrations of spam and bad salesmen - but presented with a sense of fighting back. Eleri sounds like she's on a mission to right the world's wrongs. She's joined in that quest by Welsh hip-hop artist Millie Blooms, who's also taken up the role of producer.

Eleri is a singer-songwriter from South Wales who has quickly established herself on the Americana/country scene, and quickly established herself in my reckoning, too. I featured her briefly in my Artists to watch in 2022 post last year, having had her excellent 'Nightclub Floor' EP on heavy repeat over the summer of '21. Since then, I've been looking forward to hearing which direction Eleri would take her music next. 

It can be difficult for a UK artist to get this genre right; it's not just a matter of throwing in a pedal steel guitar and writing about country roads, jeans and whisky. Lots of people try but don't quite get there. But Eleri has, through a combination of talent, hard work and grasping that, whatever the genre and style, songs need to be written honestly and from the heart. Although 'Snake Like You' is undoubtedly a song rooted firmly in U.S. country roots, Eleri has brought in some current, fresh elements of alt-pop and rock, and written about things that matter to her - her experiences, her life.

Anyway, back to the music ... After that first set up, there's some gorgeous, undeniably country/Western, electric guitar, and the song really settles into a groove. Helped along by the familiarity of close harmonies and slide guitars, there's a very comfortable feel to it. The delivery is effortlessly confident, as Eleri fits in some tricky lyrics without breaking a sweat. But there's also innovation. The climax of the first two-thirds of the song comes as Eleri plays with the "snake like you" motif, unexpectedly letting her voice climb to a high falsetto.

It's here that the spoken word section comes in, courtesy of Millie Blooms. It's an interesting juxtaposition, and, again, quite unexpected in this style of song. That adds to that sense of Eleri experimenting and developing the boundaries of her genre.

It's great to hear that 'Snake Like You' is the first single from a new album (title and release date not yet confirmed ...). I expect it to be an exciting record and can't wait to travel that road with Eleri.

Listen below, and look out for Eleri's live dates - she's often out gigging and is a great live act.