The Links- elvira

“elvira” is the latest release by The Links, an outstanding band based in Lafayette, LA. It’s their first piece of work this year, arriving as an adequate follow-up of “Sela,” “Outside,” “Let’s Go (Nothing For Me),” and “Lacerations,” four excellent singles released in 2024 that you should also check out as soon as possible. Lyrically, the song deals with various sentiments, moods, situations, and circumstances, as frontman Jack Morrison processes grief and deals with a set of emotional circumstances all the while trying to further justify and continue a year of sobriety. Sonically, the band combines several complementary music genres to illustrate such luxuriant sonic imagery. Perhaps alternative rock comes to mind first but you’ll notice how some of the finest properties borrowed from art rock, post-punk, shoegaze, psychedelic rock, and indie rock found their way into this sonic equation. They use all these additional elements as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to elevate their music to new heights while simultaneously remaining loyal to primary sonic direction. “elvira” continuously levitates between nostalgia and modern sound, so it’s a catchy, memorable, engaging composition that will not only appeal to the fans of the mentioned music genres but also those picky music enthusiasts looking for cleverly assembled and flawlessly performed music.

From the onset, it becomes apparent that these highly skilled musicians poured heart and soul into this song. “elvira” arrives with a perfect structure, adorned with many intricate segments, incredible ideas, and outstanding orchestrations. Each vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuver has its place and purpose in this sonic equation, so a pleasant listening experience is more than guaranteed. As soon as you press play, you’ll notice how Jack Morrison’s soulful, passionate, sincere, confident, emotional, powerful vocal performance elevates everything to new heights, commands attention, and guides the listening apparatus from scratch to finish. His subtly raw, abrasive, gritty vocal seamlessly balances low, mid, and high notes, emphasizing everything The Links intended to achieve with this song. Besides decorating all these segments and orchestrations with such precision and finesse, these vocal maneuvers contribute emotional depth and complexity to an already intricate structure. In the meantime, Wesley Guillory’s impressive guitar works shape such a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. You’ll notice how the interplay between several layers creates such an otherwordly ambiance. The comprehensive collection of calm, soothing, relaxing, reverby, ethereal chord progressions, powerful riffs, harmonies, melodies, themes, and accentuations continuously lurk around in the mix, making this track worth repeating over and over again. Also, it’s nearly mindblowing how these guitar layers suit vocals from scratch to finish.

Of course, this fine piece of artistry wouldn’t sound this good without the rock-solid rhythm section. You’ll immediately hear how Grant Gauthreaux’s detailed, vividly hearable, warm-sounding basslines rumble beneath the guitars, offering more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth while binding all those guitar layers with rhythmic patterns. These low-ends are rich, deep, dense, and heavy, contributing more power and detail to the song. In the meantime, Andrew Lawrence’s exceptional drumming performance based upon cleverly arranged, flawlessly performed, well-accentuated, moderate beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics keep the remainder of the orchestrations in line while dictating groove and pace. The Links thought about everything while writing, composing, arranging, and producing their latest track, so if the guitars serve as a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon, then the bass and drums act as a backdrop, holding everything together. “elvira” is a soulful, meaningful, powerful alternative rock song that showcases all the brilliance of The Links. With such passionate vocal performance, catchy guitar works, detailed basslines, and excellent drumming, they’ve created a composition that will immediately resonate with the broader auditorium. It showcases all their dedication to the craft, outstanding musicianship, brilliant ideas, experience, knowledge, and skills. It’s a masterpiece you surely don’t want to miss. The single is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!