Artists who have grown up with and on the internet rarely arrive with much mystery left intact. This makes Dove Ellis feel unusually enigmatic. Very little is known about the young Irish songwriter, leaving the field wide open for projection and imagination. Yet the enigmatic quality surrounding Dove Ellis seems less like a carefully calculated marketing strategy than a genuine personality trait. Thankfully, the music says more than enough. Blending chamber pop, folk and atmospheric alternative rock, Dove Ellis has rightfully been described as an heir to both father and son Buckley, Nick Drake and Thom Yorke. Still, more than anything, he already sounds entirely like himself — emotionally elusive yet strangely immediate, fragile one moment and overwhelming the next. The unanimous acclaim surrounding Dove Ellis’ debut album “Blizzard” quickly transformed him from cult-favorite pub troubadour into one of the indie world’s most celebrated new names. In a musical era obsessed with overexposure, Dove Ellis instead remains magnetic precisely because he still leaves room for mystery. This summer, that mystery arrives at Way Out West.

 

Dove Ellis will perform in Slottsskogen on Thursday August 13th