The Elusives
The Elusives take listeners into the dark, seductive world of “The Strangler,” blending haunting storytelling, retro grooves, funk-driven bass, and atmospheric melodies into an unexpected musical experience.
1. “The Strangler” combines haunting romance, bass-driven funk, and the atmosphere of 1970s and 1980s dance halls. What inspired you to bring these seemingly contrasting elements together, and how did you develop the song’s distinctive sound?
“The Strangler” created itself in a way, strange I know but, when I think back to the beginning of it, I remember Paul had a guitar riff, on acoustic and the trick was to find a melody to go with it. While fooling around with a keyboard I began to play 3 simple notes that sounded quite dark. That was to become the intro (that Paul eventually cleaned up and played a lot better than me on the recording). I made a suggestion that we should make this a Halloween song as it was probably coming close to Autum? Not long after Paul produced amazing music and structure with that funk driven bass line, added the cool guitars and full synth vibe before I lay down some drums. After that the idea was to slow it right back to “The Stranglers Pace”
That little bit slower than your footsteps and closer to your heartbeat – in the deep night!
2. The story draws inspiration from the disturbing phenomenon of serial killers receiving fan mail and love letters from people fascinated by them. What interested you most about this unsettling relationship between fascination, fear, and romance?
As I was working out the lyrics with Paul and The Strangler was being created, I realized the story was being told by the victim and not The Strangler. That inspired the female vocal to be brought to the front later on. We all new the inevitable, she was going to be strangled, that’s when I thought “dancing with a demon, kiss and tell” was her dark fantasy’s were aligned and she was only too happy that He was “taking hold of her life”. There was lots of Documentaries out around that time and I always found these women sending love letters and fan male was even more twisted than the serial killer! Would you agree?
3. You describe The Strangler as a fictional character built on an element of truth. How did you approach creating this character, and what did you want listeners to understand—or question—about him?
I think all our songs tell a story in some form. We don’t usually write these darker characters. I think our song writing style can also leave enough space for the listener to “get it” or simply make their own meaning, its up to them to use their imagination any way they want. The listener might figure it out. The strangler could still be out there! Are you dancing with the demon on the dance floor right now?? On the other hand, they might get drunk, have fun, groove to it and chance a duet on some Karaoke night!
4. Musically, the track has a mellow party groove despite its dark subject matter. How important was that contrast between an inviting dance-floor sound and an unsettling story to the identity of the song?
This might tie in slightly what I mentioned above. Firstly, Paul puts together some incredible music (most of which you can hear in the coming months with our new releases expected from Oct 9th). The Strangler was no different, this beautiful funk and ambient guitar work just needed something different, no screaming vocals, no raw distortion or hard pounded drums, just a haunting subtlety that lures you in. The Strangler does that! Secondly, eh, not sure on a secondly? no that’s it, just a firstly!
5. With its deep bass lines, late-night atmosphere, and Halloween-friendly energy, “The Strangler” feels designed to make people dance while simultaneously telling them to be careful who they dance with. What kind of reaction do you hope to create when listeners first hear it?
I really hope people re-discover their minds ability to have an attention span longer than 30 seconds. No offense to anyone, but social media has really affected peoples exposure to musical works of art. These days its “scroll on by”. They’ll miss some great music and stories that are being written all over the world and I think that’s a big shame. Imagine never given stairway to heaven, comfortably numb, bohemian rhapsody, Freebird etc etc only 30 seconds? That’s what is happening right now. I find it sad. So if the listen for long enough to hear those brilliant romantic melody layers near they end, the music might make them feel something more. And that’s what we want our music to do, Make you feel something, anything!.
6. Looking beyond “The Strangler,” how would you describe the artistic identity you are building as a band, and are there more dark stories, characters, or unexpected themes you would like to explore in your future music?
Our First single release from our upcoming album will be available on Oct 9th.
The song is called Run Away into the night” to quote a recent Interview that Laura did regarding that upcoming release she summed it up very well..
“Theres a definite feeling of escapism, ‘leave it all behind us’ – A powerful feeling of sudden freedom, not wanting to be found but also excitement about being with the one who can sit with you in that space”
It’s heavily 80’s inspired and a tip of the cap as to how I well I had it as a child of the 80’s.
Run awa into the night has a story with characters, Dangerous Games (the next one after that) also has a story. Stories we can’t wait for you all to hear!
It’s all about to happen!