Elvis Depressedly finds clarity with ‘New Alhambra’

Hard times follow those who make experimental music in the rural Southeast. Given the region’s often poverty-stricken and religiously dogmatic landscape, it makes sense that a group with the morbid title of Elvis Depressedly would emerge from within its depths. Yet the Bible Belt provides unexpected inspiration. The challenges presented by the group’s South Carolina homeland define Elvis Depressedly’s identity. Biblical references populate nearly every release in the group’s discography. The grim humor faced by all those in the South who exist outside its norms lies at the heart of the band’s aesthetic. Elvis Depressedly’s latest album, New Alhambra, explores singer/songwriter Mat Cothran’s experiences growing up in a world of pro-wrestlers, musical heritages, and the Southern mysticism underlying the group’s otherworldly sound.

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Elvis Depressedly began when Cothran faced a lack of interest from upstate South Carolina’s local music scene. Cothran grew up in Spartanburg, but the group took shape when he moved to Columbia circa 2011. Multi-instrumentalist Delaney Mills joined soon after, followed by bassist Mike Roberts. Reception was lukewarm, but the lack of an experimental scene pushed Cothran to find the Brooklyn-based Orchid Tapes and befriend the group’s current touring partners Eskimeaux and Mitski.

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“We didn’t have success in our local scene because it was based on old styles of music,” Cothran says. “We would play South Carolina to nobody and then play New York to 300 people.”

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On first listen, the trio’s output sounds obsessed with desolation and hazy nostalgia. But like its name implies, Elvis Depressedly takes its cheerlessness with a dose of wit and humor. “I felt like there was a miscommunication between Elvis Depressedly and our audience about what we were into,” Cothran says. “Some people were labeling us as emo and that’s something I’ve never been a part of or listen to.”

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If there’s a theme running through New Alhambra, it’s the need for clarity. Sonically no one could be blamed for aligning Elvis Depressedly with the first crop of emo bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate and Modest Mouse’s early releases. But Cothran lists Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, and Pink Floyd as influences. And while the group has its somber moments, depression doesn’t define Elvis Depressedly. Misinterpretation doesn’t bother Cothran, but he retains a strong drive to spell out his intentions. “One of my favorite records of all time is No Flashlight by Mount Eerie,” he says. “The opening line is, ‘Knowing no one understands these songs, I try to sing them clearer.’”

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Lyrically, the desire for clarity stands out the strongest on New Alhambra’s second song, “N.M.S.S.” (No More Sad Songs). “I will serve no purpose/I love everyone that I have ever known,” Cothran sings as the song’s delicate strums come to an end.

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Chopped and screwed recordings of pro-wrestlers and late-night television evangelists lurk in the record’s backdrop, providing weight and weirdness to otherwise straightforward songs. “I didn’t listen to music too heavily until I was 11 or 12. Everything I cared about was pro-wrestling,” he says. “I grew up raised by my grandparents and my grandma was into Bible prophecy and these strange late-night 1 a.m. Bible prophecy shows.”

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He stresses the mystical aspect of religion and the Southern identity underlying his music, especially involving death. His grandma relayed tales of a death veil, a spectral veil people saw over the face of those close to the afterlife. People in his family were sensitive to that, she would tell him.

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He also points to Hank Williams as an early influence, specifically his ability to write apocalyptic songs in a secular context.

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“Hank was saying he was going to the kingdom of heaven but that night he would be drinking a whole bottle of whiskey,” Cothran says. “That identity of being a sinner and accepting that, but wanting to be saved, is a very big part of Southern identity.”

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Production-wise, New Alhambra is more defined than anything Elvis Depressedly has turned out before. Though the record sparkles with precision, the album was recorded with the same sparse equipment used on the trio’s last six releases.

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Cothran and Delaney recently left their home state, but chose to stay close to home in Asheville, N.C. The decision may be financially driven, but the artistic freedoms afforded by staying in the South are no less crucial to the group’s existence. “The modest living we make off of music would not be sustainable in Brooklyn,” he says. “The Southeast is affordable in a lot of places which is conducive for freeing yourself up so you have more time for your art.”