Jayde Ellen’s electrifying club banger ‘Keep Your Distance’ lures audiences in while keeping them hooked, ironically closer.
Drawing us in with deep house chords, retro synth leads and swift electro bass, ‘Keep Your Distance’ continues in the futuristic direction of Ellen’s debut single, ‘Kissing Mirrors’, released this May.
When the new single’s catchy chorus drops upon us, you may feel motivated to get up and dance while listening to Ellen’s electrifying pop style as a newcomer to Wollongong’s rich music scene.
Although claiming inspiration from the likes of Tove Lo, Banks and Fletcher, Jayde Ellen also strikes us as a lover of the club sound of the 80s and 90s, through her use of retro-sounding synthesisers. Electronics aside, her strong and soaring natural voice is instantly captivating upon entry, serving as the focal point of ‘Keep Your Distance’.
Ellen’s new single is positively dripping with infectious energy, calling images of dark sweaty club rooms or glitter-bedazzled dancers to mind, while echoing the style of female greats like Kylie and Madonna. The track even has the same type of charismatic energy as the songs that Ru Paul’s queens lip-synch for their lives on TV.
The interlocking rhythms that it’s built upon are dynamic and agile, which should inspire equally lively dancing in return. It’s always a joy to hear authentic old-school sounding synths propelled in complementary motion with each other.
‘Keep Your Distance’ finely exhibits this, and keeps us engaged through an ethereal bridge section, a classic EDM-style climax to its final choruses, and fun vocal glitching on the repeated phrase, “I love it”, thematically centred around confusing relationships.
Aside from its computerised melange of melodies, which swirl and shift through various forms, Ellen proves her versatility as a singer through the song’s duration. She keeps us engaged by switching from the gutsy power of her soulful lead lines to angelic backing ‘oohs’ in its bridge, with a voice that’s suited to major radio airplay.
With these varying talents in her creative arsenal, we’re keen to see what new synth-pop journeys Ellen can take us on next. For now, we’ve got the rich sounds of ‘Keep Your Distance’ to immerse us in a sonic experience of personal resonance and undeniable energy.
Review by Corin Shearston
