ANNA ELYSE - Slot Machines
“Slot Machines” is a song that reveals the talent and sensitivity of Anna Elyse, an artist who has a lot to offer and invites us to grow with her. It’s a song that makes us think about our own lives, about what we desire and what we need to let go.
By Juan
10/4/20232 min read
On Rotation: ANNA ELYSE - Slot Machines
“Time is a great equalizer” is a phrase that we have all heard in one way or another. What we are never told (and only learn on our own) is that time also changes us all equally. The ticking of the clock announces that sooner or later, we will grow up and we will not see the facts, places, or people in the same way we used to see them.
Anna Elyse has a lot to say about this. “Slot Machines” is a song that tells us a story of farewell, of breakup, of resignation: a story of change. A story that could be ours, or anyone’s who has had to leave behind something or someone that no longer belongs to them, or where they no longer belong. Anna Elyse is a singer, songwriter, and producer who draws inspiration from Neil Young’s poetry and modernizes her sound with influences from No ID, Mike Dean, and Illangelo. She shares her experience of growing up and changing, and above all, the role of time.
The song captivates us with a piano that takes us to an intimate and profound place, where Anna Elyse’s voice expresses itself with sweetness and emotion, leaving silences between each phrase so that the story takes on weight. The song talks to us about time, which is a constant and inevitable factor in human life, an indispensable companion that changes everything in its path. Anna uses the rhythm of the clock as an accompaniment element. This detail is especially effective, as it reinforces the theme of the song about the inexorable passage of time.
“Slot Machines” is a metaphor for the hope that things can be like they used to be, that we can feel what we felt before or what we never felt. But Anna Elyse tells us that it’s not possible, that we have changed, that we no longer fit in that place or with that person. We have to accept reality, and the reality is that the passage of time brings growth. “Slot Machines” is a story of growth in itself: the change in perspective that experiences give us, the different way of seeing the world that we have as we grow or experience, the constant change, the transience of our sense of belonging to certain places and people.
Anna Elyse knows what she’s talking about, as she has lived through a process of personal and artistic transformation herself. She was behind the scenes in recording studios and collaborated on some important hip-hop albums (Logic’s albums: Under Pressure, The Incredible True Story, and No Pressure). But one day she decided to leave her fears behind and release her own music. Her self-produced and mixed debut single, “Trading Glances”, landed her on several upcoming folk-pop playlists (Greywood Records, Dave Powers, HQIndie).
Catch ‘Slot Machine’ on Spotify and AFX Radio
