Elliot Moss Discusses Relationships and How His New Album ‘Boomerang’ Is Different Than ‘Highspeeds’

Char Little

Stemming from the success of his debut 2015 release, “Highspeeds,” Elliot Moss is back with a new EP, “Boomerang.” For this one, Moss offers a unique and vulnerable sound that reveals many of the struggles his listeners can relate to. Entertainment Voice spoke with him about how his cover art coincides with the music, how he can relate to a breakup song on the EP, and how a tour sparked the inspiration for “Boomerang.”

Your EP “Boomerang” is now available. How can you describe the creative process behind it?

Well, you know, this one started differently for me than “Highspeeds.” I started with just the lyrics, then built the music around that later, so the process was different. With that being the case, you sort of arrive at things more differently. It’s sort of like scoring a film for me instead of writing a song because I already had a picture in mind. All of the songs have two sides to them— like light and dark. It’s very clean sounds up against dirty and overly-processed stuff, so you get that two-sided sound with the push and pull. 

You are also a visual artist. How was this integrated into your cover art?

The cover is made by this artist who does a lot of beautiful work named Samuel Johnson. He’s from London and has swirly and abstract paintings. The moment I saw them, they felt like a record to me. It best represents the music I was working with, and I was hunting for that kind of picture. That’s why the color is red and blue, kind of like two opposite colors together. The colors are at odds, and the vocals float between. 

“Boomerang” refers to inner struggles and whether one should face the harsh realities of the outside world or find comfort with their inner self. How did this theme come about?

It came to me while I was on tour. There was one side of things where it was lovely, and I was having a wonderful time seeing places for the first time, and seeing things take off with these unique experiences and with the fans. But then there were struggles of trying to make sure we were playing our best every night and sitting in the van for nine hours a day and finding ways to occupy yourself as you’re sitting and watching trees go by. After a couple of months, it really starts to wear on you when you get up at 4 in the morning, driving all day and finding the energy to play for a show. It does take a toll, but the EP served as a coping mechanism of ‘this is what I’m going through right now, so I’m going to write it down instead of feeling sorry about it.’

The EP has seven songs on it. What messages were important for you to send to your fans when selecting the songs?

It sort of goes through this journey of how I’m feeling, and wanting to escape from reality. But I wanted fans to know you can recover and process what’s going on. So as the record moves on, it talks about the hardships and coming to terms with that, and re-associating yourself. But at the end, we’re back in the present and it just sort of talks about all of the things one might go through in trying to escape. 

The title track “Boomerang” tells the story of a love gone wrong. What did you experience that inspired the lyrics for this song?

Without getting too specific, yes, that one definitely comes from experience. 

The lyrics for “99” seem to have a subliminal message when it refers to war. What’s the hidden meaning of it?

It’s using war as a metaphor for confronting this huge issue that you might have in your relationship. It’s this thing we go into, and we don’t know what side is going to come out or what you’re going to look like on the other side of it. You know, it’s about getting out ahead of and confronting these dark areas that otherwise will sneak up on us and catch us off guard. It talks a lot about making sure that we take care of the issues in our relationship, so there’s more room for good things. 

You have said that “Closedloop” has “always felt black and white” and that you wanted to incorporate that into the video. How did you execute this when creating the video?

Out of all the tunes, I’d say it’s the most isolated. The video with the bright light that shines down on our actress represents this person who is cutting off reality in such a way that they’re only processing small bits at a time because the whole picture is too much. Using these spotlight drones, we’re able to show that in a masked scale. 

Your music has created a buzz online and has been streamed more than 40 million times on Spotify. What does it mean for you to have that type of attention?

It doesn’t even really register. It’s just so crazy that “Slip” has 30 million streams. Looking at that and trying to process how many people are listening, sometimes it’s hard to believe. It’s really cool, and I’m very grateful for it. 

The video for your song “Slip” has also received 5 million views on YouTube. How did the concept for that video come about?

It’s funny because we were shooting that one and we got two videos for one. But that talks about not wanting to squander your opportunity as a human being—to bloom into whoever you’re destined to be and let go of things that are holding you back. The video basically showed our actress on the journey of washing herself clean of the things holding you down. 

You’re going on tour this summer with stops in Brooklyn and other major cities like Chicago and Boston. What do you have planned?

We’re playing all the new songs which is really exciting for us. It feels good to have new sounds under our fingertips. I think every time we add a song to the set, the dynamic between us as band members changes and there’s sort of new things that go on. The way songs change from night to night and what the room feels like for us should be really fun.

“Boomerang” is available on Apple Music April 28.