Elle Belle is a Los Angeles based psych-rock project that describes itself as The 13th Floor Elevators meets Brian Jonestown Massacre. Started in late 2013 as the solo project of Christopher Pappas, Elle Belle was an experiment in forced catharsis before becoming something greater. The debut single, “You Better Mean It”, feels like a modern remake of a swirly, sugary-yet-smoke-filled pop interpretation of acid trip scenes in movies that segues into a power pop ballad bridge and prominent cow bell refrain.
Says Pappas of the single: “During the summer of 2013 I was struggling while recording a follow up record for a solo project. I was spending all my time in this windowless closet that I had converted to a studio when I just snapped. In the midst of this nervous breakdown, out of an act of necessity, I shelved the record and just let myself write whatever I wanted… 'You Better Mean It' was the first of these new batch of songs written during this time that would eventually be the core sound of a new project: Elle Belle. It was written as a bit of a dig at myself and the breakdown that came before it, with the refrain echoing the only thing left I knew to be true: I can do whatever I want, but whatever I do, I better damn well mean it.”
The band's debut single “You Better Mean It”, which you can stream it below, will be released July 1 via Little Records. The band will also be doing a summer residency at LA's Kibitz Room the last Friday of every month June through September.
