ELLIS KING Debut EP “Better Luck” Out today on Nettwerk
February 3, 2025 BY Bailey Vigliaturo
Ellis King presents her remarkable debut EP “Better Luck”, out today on Nettwerk. Blending beautiful candid lyrics and assured musicianship, the EP is a powerful opening statement from an emerging singer-songwriter poised to be a breakout act of 2025.
While the songs across the EP may be a collection of personal rumination, King’s biggest hope is that her songs resonate with listeners the way so many other musicians’ work has resonated with her.
Ellis King fell in love with music from a young age when her older brother started playing the guitar, later going on to study music at school and then university, learning about the industry along with skills such as production and mixing.
Demo-less at the time but not wanting to let this opportunity pass her by, King immediately recorded the song that would become the title track of her EP “Better Luck”. She was promptly signed, and began playing small gigs around town, honing her craft and working on a suite of new songs for her first release.
Producer Steph Marziano (Hayley Williams, Cassandra Jenkins, Idris Elba) allows King’s voice a clarity amidst the delicate arrangements. The vocals are unwavering, and the musicality is at times breathtaking – the shimmering piano outro of “Home” or the elegant guitar lines of “Crocodile Tears”. Together, with Matt Wiggins (Hinds, Glass Animals, Adele) at the mixing desk, King and her team have captured her sound brilliantly on the EP.
The songs of “Better Luck” showcase personal reflections and compelling musical moments. “Frances” broaches the complex subject of faded friendships. It’s bittersweet with the swoon and glide of violins so sombre as to sound like they might be in mourning.
An arguably more forthright King can be heard on “Crocodile Tears”, a track that perfectly encapsulates her storytelling prowess, spinning silver threads out of crashing symbols and hypnotic melodies. It proves how she appreciates that the spaces in between – the sudden calm after the storm of the chorus – leave just as much of an impression.
On what might be the EP’s most intimate insight into King, the cool pop sound of “1996” soft strums of guitar, gentle reverb on the vocals and a rippling piano motif belies the tension simmering below its surface, as she dreads running into someone she doesn’t want to see.
King admits, “It’s about dating someone who didn’t care as much about me as I did about them and them knowing from the start, they didn’t want anything more from me but continuing to see me and so dragging out the inevitable in a painful way.”
The EP’s closer “Home” is a poignant song about feelings of uncertainty. It captures a universal sentiment of helplessness as King questions our constant seeking of connections while enveloped by crooning harmonies, bright piano and a stoic drumbeat. “It has a lot to do with being in my twenties,” explains King, “especially when it felt as though my generation was being stunted because of lockdown.”
The release of “Better Luck” may prove cathartic for King as it pushes through a fear. “Sharing music is probably what I find the most difficult,” says King, “but I have been working on this for a long time and it has become something I’m really excited about. Having people react to my music is such a high point, and something that really motivates me to get through the reservedness of sharing it.”
King is not your typical artist, in that her aspirations are not fixed on a dream of stadium shows or million-dollar record deals. Instead, she’s determined to hone her craft, to release a debut album that tells a story “from start to finish”. Better Luck is a welcome first chapter.
