Nashville songwriter Kayla Graninger, who records wonky art pop under Elke, will release her second album, Divine Urge, this Friday. Co-produced by Graninger and close friend Jake McMullen, Divine Urge bursts with her numerous influences, melding the relentless experimentalism of Brian Eno with the marvelous wit of Fiona Apple and Kate Bush. Just like her debut LP, No Pain For Us Here, Paramore’s Zac Farro assists on drums, and this time other members enter the fold, including Hayley Williams (“Standard Information”) and touring rhythm guitarist Brian Robert Jones (“One Fake Sedative”) as Elke’s enchanting vision ushers us across 11 tracks. Nature remains a central tenet, representing the space where she can be her truest self and reset, which is boldly reflected in her “Enchanté” video. “No matter how much we develop as a society, we will always have to return to nature — it is wiser than us and cannot be controlled,” Elke says, who uses the natural world to feel more alive.
“I was very depressed while writing this record,” she continues. “I kept thinking how I wanted to eat dirt and become one with the trees. I didn’t need to possess nature or build a garden; I just wanted to roll around and feel it.”
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Ahead of the album’s release, Elke waded through the far-flung influences that went into Divine Urge.
Brian Eno – “Needles In The Camel’s Eye”
This or “Baby on Fire” was my first ever Brian Eno song. He is in my top 10 of all time. This song will always feel like a new revelation of something good every time I hear it.
Kate Bush – “Suspended in Gaffa”
This song is responsible for a lot of Divine Urge. I listened to it for hours one day and cried the whole time. It broke me and fixed me.
Odetta – “Hit or Miss”
I remember listening to this song after my boyfriend of a year dumped and ghosted me. I was walking to the subway in Brooklyn and sadness broke for a moment, and I just started dancing.
Chet Atkins – “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind”
The greatest duet there ever was. Come at me. It was 2018, and I was in my spiritual zone (sunset, cig, drink, texting everyone I love and telling them I love them). This song was playing.
Fiona Apple – “Valentine”
It’s been such a treat to get to know Fiona as an artist and relate to everything she has to write about. She’s encouraged me to practice even harder at piano, and also to slow down in life.
Mitski – “My Love Mine All Mine”
This song sums up my ideology on life perfectly. It is the song of a lifetime and should be sent to space on a golden vinyl. I don’t know what we did to deserve Mitski.
Bill Withers – “Friend of Mine”
I used to bartend at a blues bar in NYC, and Irving Louis Lattin would cover this song. He taught me all of the best Bill Withers deep cuts. This live version is immaculate (and the only version that’s ever been on Spotify). It captures the essence of friendship so well.
Lee Moses – “Adorable One”
Fuck me up, Lee! This song has been with me for a long time. The first chord of this song will always give me chills because I know what’s to come.
Otis Redding – “That’s How Strong My Love Is”
When my parents first started dating, they’d drive around in a little convertible and sing Otis Redding together. Thank fucking God they did not pick some weak-ass music, because this hits me again and again in the sprint into the wall and enters a mystical world way.
Nico – “These Days”
And here we end, on the song that Shane what’s-his-name showed me in class in high school that changed my life. Once a group of friends and I played a game where we all queued the one song that changed our life and let them all play one by one. I of course picked this song, and the next song that played was the Jackson Browne version, which my boyfriend queued. Cute shit.
Mina – “Se Telephonando”
I broke the rules and did an encore. My toxic trait is singing this song front to back in Italian thinking it’s good. Mina carried me through many mixed emotions in my early 20s with no understanding of what she was saying.