Single Review: Elle King – ‘Ex’s & Oh’s’
2 min read
It’s been an exciting couple of years for American musician Elle King, her debut release The Elle King EP earned her some warranted recognition and has since toured with the likes of Train and Of Monsters And Men; not to mention her song Playing For Keeps was used as the theme song for MTV’s Mob Wives Chicago TV series, so she’s already got some career milestones under her belt. King has been working hard on her debut studio album Love Stuff, which is due for release next month, and she has released the single Ex’s & Oh’s to pump us up.
King’s work spans over a few musical genres from country and soul to alternative rock, so naturally we’re expecting some kind of magic with this single release; Ex’s & Oh’s captures your attention the first second of playing the track, from that initial strum of the guitar and that persistent beat of the drums. Elle has a beautiful voice, the sweetness resounding from her pipes really compliments the rough and gritty instrumentation of the song; lyrically she describes how she’s developed relationships with needy men over states and continents and now those ex-relationships haunt her, a common theme but she delivers the concept stunningly.
Ex’s & Oh’s exceeded expectations, Elle King certainly knows how to tell a story in the form of a country-meets-alternative rock song; it won’t be surprising if this track is picked up for ads, movies or TV series as it just has this attractive sound that makes you want to hear it again and again. If Ex’s & Oh’s is one of the best tracks to represent Elle King’s debut album, then Love Stuff should definitely be an LP to anticipate for 2015.
