A rollicking yet rustic folk ballad brimming with brassy goodness and Australiana-flavoured folk-rock, 'Run Away With Me' is the first new music from The Elsewheres in three years.
Led by frontman and songwriter Oliver Northam, The Elsewheres are a Victorian eight-piece squad 'armed with blazing brass, toe-tappin' grooves and vocal harmonies to make you weak at the knees'.Since their debut in 2019, The Elsewheres have played Newport Folk Festival and Nightjar Festival, with Oliver winning the Push Songwriting Competition in 2020 and working as a contemporary musician at The Australian Ballet School.
Now they're taking the dust covers off their oldest song in their repertoire. "'Run Away With Me' is our first release in three years, but it's not going to be our last this year," shares Oliver.
"We've been working like dogs to get some new material ready for your ears so keep ya mincers peeled, there's something bigger coming."
The creative journey of 'Run Away With Me' included collaborations alongside Ella Hooper (Killing Heidi) and Alex Gow (Oh Mercy).
'Run Away With Me' ultimately reached its final form when Melbourne composer Lee Bradshaw reached out to Oliver during lockdown, with mixing completed by Michael Bradshaw and mastering by Jeremy Chua.
Gorgeous, searing strings are matched to spirited guitar lines and a mellow yet tight rhythm section, before those brass tones enter the equation unleashing the feels for an unrestrained and exuberant dance-off.
An ode to freedom and intoxicating romance, ahead of the song's release tomorrow (9 June), scenestr is thrilled to premiere the 'Run Away With Me' music video today. Enjoy.
"'Run Away With Me' captures a fantasy I've always had of an unexpected meeting between two unlikely lovers who, although uncertain, long to abandon their mundane lives," Northam says.
"For me, it is a story of freedom and the beauty of a recklessly romantic love. Although fictional, 'Run Away With Me' does draw from real moments and memories.
"The inspiration for the 'topless bar' in which our characters meet in the opening verse comes from my first job out of high school as a pianist at a burlesque bar.
"It's within that smoky, sordid world that I see these characters breathing."
Working alongside Matt Wallace (director) and Lawrence Phelan (producer), The Elsewheres' accompanying music video is a beautiful exploration of love on the run.
"Matt wrote a fantastic cinematic concept of a runaway couple gallivanting through the countryside. We were all immediately in love with the idea," Oliver says.
The video was filmed around the rolling hills just beyond where Oliver grew up in Harcourt. "There's an old abandoned outhouse which I used to climb on as a boy, and I knew this had to play a role.
"Matt had also written in a scene where we would sneak into an old lady's house and steal some freshly baked cookies, and so it was absolutely hilarious when mum stepped up to the plate for her debut role. She nailed it."
The Elsewheres play The Curtin Hotel (Melbourne) 10 August.
