the full-length debut from ellis, born again takes place in spaces both intimate and vast, ordinary and near-mythic: warm beds and lonely church pews, restless cities and desolate forests and the furthest reaches of the cosmos. throughout the album, those spaces serve as the backdrop to ellis’s sharply detailed and sometimes-painful experience of self-discovery, as well as the life-changing transformation echoed in the album’s title.
produced by jake aron (snail mail, solange, grizzly bear) and recorded partly at aron’s brooklyn studio, born again arrives as the follow-up to ellis’s debut ep the fuzz—a self-released, self-produced effort that promptly led to a deal with fat possum records and royal mountain records. in a departure from the viscerally charged dream-pop of the fuzz, born again unfolds with a mesmerizing subtlety, gracefully spotlighting ellis’s unhurried melodies, starkly confessional lyrics, and the luminous vocals.
born again is out now