Elle King’s Range Isn’t Being Appreciated Enough
In early November of 2022, Elle King released her cover of Tyler Childers’ unreleased song “Jersey Giant” after he declined to release it himself. At first I was bummed to learn that Tyler wasn’t releasing the song himself after falling in love with the YouTube video of it, as well as it blowing up on TikTok. However, once I heard Elle King’s version, I was honestly surprised at how much I loved it and have been listening to it frequently since its release. My surprise at loving Elle King’s version isn’t due to me not being a fan or thinking she could do it justice, it was more about me being reminded of the range that her talent spans.
For most people, they would probably recognize Elle King’s music from her two-time Grammy nominated single, “Ex’s & Oh’s”, or her song “Playing for Keeps” which is featured as the theme song to the Mob Wives Chicago series on VH1. While these two songs are great songs, I don’t think they truly showcase the vast range of her musical talent.
The song of hers that really put her talent into perspective for me was the song “Good Thing Gone” from her second album, Shake the Spirit. When I first heard this song, I thought to myself “holy shit, what a performance!” and it made me realize that the songs she is more known for don’t give her enough credit. After devouring “Good Thing Gone” I took it upon myself to dig further into her work and was soon realizing how great she is and felt a bit perplexed at why more people don’t realize this, or at least me personally considering her to be very underrated as a artist. Of course, she has had a successful music career but what I have noticed is that when she does release albums or new music, the most upbeat song on her albums gets scooped up by pop radio, which then makes people write her off as a pop artist when she is so much more than that.
For example, most people who know her for her pop hits would probably be surprised to learn that she not only writes most of her songs, but that she is a really good banjo player and in many of her songs that feature a banjo, it is her playing. She has previously stated that her larger musical influences are 60’s soul, country, blues, and rock but the songs that seem to be the most popular of hers don’t showcase that as well as some of her other, lesser known, songs. To clarify, I am not saying that being a pop singer is bad by any means, but more so that she could probably put out full albums of so many different genres and each one be a hit. The moment I listened to “Good Thing Gone” I was practically begging for a soul or blues album from her. Then when I heard her cover of “Jersey Giant”, I realized that I would also love to hear a full bluegrass/folk album from her. From some of the performances I have seen of hers on YouTube, I also know that if she put out a full rock and roll album, it would be phenomenal. I could truly see her putting out an album similar to Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black and I am sure we would all devour it and then she could turn around a pull a Lucinda Williams and put out an Americana-type album and it be just as good. I really believe she can do it all!
She is just so well rounded as an artist that I am almost angry that more people don’t notice or appreciate it enough. Her vocals have the perfect rasp that emphasizes any sort of yearning feel in a song, while also being delicate and smooth at the same time. Her voice is also so powerful that she could belt out some strong ballads but then turn around and give you something light hearted. Funny enough, on every single YouTube video performance or song of hers that I have seen, the people in the comments seem to feel the same way as I do by saying how underrated she is or shocked about some of her other work after only knowing her more popular stuff. I have also seen many people say how incredible she is to see live and I can totally see how she would be an amazing performer. She is definitely one of those artists that I will make an effort to see whenever I have the chance.
As for the main point of this piece, I am honestly not sure why her talent isn’t being appreciated enough or how exactly she should showcase it in order for it to get the recognition she deserves because I am sure there is way more to it than I realize. It also seems weird to say that her talent isn’t being appreciated enough considering she has received 4 Grammy Award nominations, both in rock and country genres, but I consider her range itself to be underappreciated. I seriously feel like there is so much talent there that needs to be heard and appreciated by the masses that it is almost frustrating once you dig into her discography and get an understanding on just how easily she can transcend genres.
What I think makes this opinion on her being underrated different compared to many of the smaller artists that I write about is that she and her music are well known and she has found success, but just not through the lens that I think fully captures her range, which makes it even more mind blowing. For what it is worth, I adore and appreciate Elle King’s talent and am simply a fan of her as a person too because she comes off so genuine and herself. I will continue to follow her musical career and keep my fingers crossed for the types of albums I described above from her, or at least hear more people giving her the credit she deserves. Lucky enough, she is releasing a new album later this month that is suppose to be a more country album so I am eager to give it a listen once it is released.
For a small example of her range and captivating performance abilities, check out the set below!
