I remember my first mixtape my friend gave me in 4th grade. It had U2, MC Hammer, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, and Johnny Cash. I learned every word of every song and sang along at the top of my lungs - it was a very special experience and I wanted to encapsulate it in this song. This collection of songs is essentially a pandemic mixtape of sorts - made just for you!

Eli Lev’s New Project, the EP Walk.Talk.Dance.Sing, was Inspired by the Pandemic

(Silver Spring, MD) March 30, 2022 - Eli Lev is a popular indie folk singer/songwriter who released his latest project, an EP called Walk.Talk.Dance.Sing, inspired by the events of the pandemic. Walk.Talk.Dance.Sing explores the range of emotions that we all went through as a society in an instant. Eli realized how much music truly meant and how powerful it really is to keep us going.

The EP consists of 5 singles, “Be Your Someone,” kicking everything off with an indie pop sound similar to that of Ben Harper or Bon Iver and takes a deep dive into the forced isolation and connection we all had to go through. For Eli, he and his partner were figuring out how to live and coexist with each other. “There were a lot of tears and confusion as we tried to figure out how to live with each other in our new reality, but in the end we knew that we were each other's someone - and it was ok to love and hate and have all those mixed emotions play out in order for us to better understand each other, and better understand our relationship together,” shares Eli.

“Dancin’ on the Lawn” takes on a Lauv meets Jason Mraz vibe, with an upbeat melody and whistling throughout. It’s hopeful that we will all be able to have fun again and enjoy live music together. We will one day connect through music. Eli says, “My entire 2020 tour was canceled because of the pandemic and I truly missed being able to share my songs with folks face-to-face so I wrote this song about the day in the future where we'd all be dancing together again.”

“Move As You Do” still has a pop feeling, but has more of an acoustic sound to it. It starts a little slower while Eli sings about the future and how we are told there’s a “right way” to go through life. But, it happens slowly, one step at a time; everything happens for a reason, and not necessarily in the order you want it to happen. It’s a reminder that there’s no “right way” to do life.

The fourth single, “Vacation,” is bubbly and harbors a Caribbean beat. After 2 years of being stuck and isolated, “Vacation” reminds us that we need a physical and mental vacation from everything that’s happened, that we need a break and movement. “I wrote this song turning all the mundane tasks of everyday living during the pandemic into something exotic and special and interesting - kind of like an extremely long vacation!” Eli says.

Walk.Talk.Dance.Sing wraps up with “Singing Along for the First Time,” released in conjunction with the EP. It takes on a shuffle beat folk style sound, with a hint of Ed Sheeran. It’s upbeat, quick, and has a guest appearance by Crosby Cofod in fiddle. “Singing Along for the First Time” is about hope and joy, finding the joy and majesty in music and the power it has over us. It’s a celebration of music. Eli shares, “When we realize what music can do to our hearts and souls and bodies, there's this new yet ancient reckoning of us re-becoming our human selves and what it means to be part of the larger community of humanity.”

Listen to Walk.Talk.Dance.Sing:
soundcloud.com/elilevmusic/sets/walk-talk-dance-sing/s-jKPrXSCFlhZ?

More About Eli Lev
Rising singer-songwriter and global citizen Eli Lev is making the world a smaller place, one song at a time. Eli pens lyrics and melodies for everyday enlightenment—songs that resonate because they’re heartfelt, earthy, and offer the wisdom he’s gained through lifelong travel and self-discovery.

Prior to becoming a full time musician, the Silver Spring, MD native spent three years as an 8th grade English teacher on the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. The indigenous traditions he learned during this time are the inspiration for his Four Directions project. Just as each cardinal direction holds unique characteristics in the Navajo tradition, so do each of the albums in Eli’s ‘Four Directions Project.’ Together, the series imaginatively and intrepidly connects spheres and generations within a body of work that is irresistibly uplifting, emotionally resonant, and down-to-earth authentic.

Eli explains, “We are surrounded by four directions, and each has distinctive attributes, powers, and teachings according to Navajo traditions. For example, because the sun rises in the east, it is the first direction and source of new ideas and inspiration. With that in mind, I started my EP series in 2017 with All Roads East, echoing the sounds of my youth and upbringing (Alt-Country/Americana). I released Way Out West the following year, where I experimented with the frontiers of folk tropes and melodies (Indie Folk). For 2019’s Deep South, I went back to my southern roots with a truly modern and powerful sound (Folk Rock/Pop). The final piece in 2021 is the more introspective True North (Acoustic/Singer-Songwriter).

Eli’s releases have earned critical praise from Paste Magazine, Buzzfeed, CBS Radio, AXS, and The Bluegrass Situation, and have received national folk radio support and placement on prominent Spotify playlists. In 2019, Eli Lev won multiple industry awards for his work: his second album Way Out West won a Washington Area Music Award (WAMMIE) for best Country/Americana album, while his single “Chasing Daylight” won a grand prize in the SAW Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Competition.

Follow Eli Lev via:
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