Songs of the Week: Ellise, Peyton McMahon, & Ryan Nealon

Welcome to Songs of the Week, a running series with new selections.

Ellise – “brokenboys&bitterbitches”

Ellise has a way of synthesizing the macabre into delicious pop music. Soundscapes crawl under the fingernails, and the brain pulses from the pressure. With “brokenboys&bitterbitches,” the singer-songwriter discards her heartbreak, after issuing single after single on the matter, for something super-charged with propulsive boss bitch energy. “Don’t remember what it felt like back then,” she admits. “I don’t got the time to think about that / I love lying and stabbing myself in the back.” The beat drops in like hot tar, and Ellise simply shakes it off as she emerges from it unscathed. That’s a real queen.

Peyton McMahon – “No Control”

Anxiety scratches from inside his ribcage, leaving him breathless and gasping for air. Peyton McMahon has struggled with anxiety since childhood, and it never gets any easier. “No Control” is his way of venting about the frustration that comes with being unable to reign it in, left to flounder in plenty of social situations. “Another day, another problem / Still circling a place I can’t get inside of,” he laments. “It’s a never-ending cycle / My mind is stuck inside of / I can’t escape it.” Drums pound like alarms, sticking the turmoil to an emotional corkboard of his own making. His brain won’t give him any rest, so he pours the anguish onto a song in a totally beautiful way.

Ryan Nealon – “Modern Day Sickness”

Celebrity culture and social media contaminate our ability to live. We chase validation on- and offline and end up drained and despondent. “We’re left for dead ’cause we’re stuck in our heads,” howls Ryan Nealon in his new song. “Modern Day Sickness” is a warning, a flare gun shot into the dead of night. But no one is listening. Strings trickle into the arrangement with stunning beauty, a counterpoint to the fangy lyrics. A choir breaks through behind Nealon’s sterling vocals, washing over the listener in an attempt for cleansing. “What the hell have we created?” he asks. “Praising our gods when they can’t fucking save us!” Perhaps we’re too far gone. But maybe we can get back our humanity if we turn around now. Instead, we’ll likely continue to doom scroll and envy those with so-called “perfect” lives. It’s our fate.

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