ELLiS·D – “Spill” EP – This is not a review

Sometimes the best musical discoveries happen when you least expect them.
That’s precisely what happened at Kulturclub Schon Schön in Mainz back in April, where Ellis Dickson’s ELLiS·D project opened for Fat Dog in front of maybe 200 sweaty bodies packed into a room built for half that number. The kind of venue where you can’t stand still because the crowd moves like ocean waves, pushing you back and forth whether you want it or not.

Ellis Dickson walked on stage, unknown to me. By the time he finished his set, everyone in that tiny, overheated room knew they’d witnessed something special. I immediately started texting my Italian music friends from “LaXXV Ora“: “So the band before Fat Dog was insane. I didn’t know them, but I’m getting the album right away; Ellis-d”

The responses came back ironic and fast.

Endriu: “Come on, you’d never heard them? They’re incredible.”

Then Fulvius twisted the knife: “One of the best EPs this year, but of course you’ve already heard them.”

Nothing like your friends making you feel like an ignorant fool for missing something obvious. But honestly, that’s the most beautiful thing about loving music: getting blindsided by something that punches you in the stomach when you’re not expecting it.

“Spill,” his seven-track sophomore EP released in March via Crafting Room Recordings, captures that same electric energy that left audiences breathless and hunting down his music before they’d even left the venue.

Working entirely solo at Hackney Road Studios with producer Shuta Shinoda (Hot Chip, Jehnny Beth), Dickson has crafted what he calls “rocket-fuelled, goth-tinged glam-punk infested with 21st century paranoia.” It’s an accurate description, but doesn’t quite prepare you for the controlled chaos that unfolds across these 35 minutes.

The EP flows like a fever dream through different rooms of the same twisted house. “Chasing The Blue” sets the tone with seven minutes of psychedelic buildup, Dickson’s vocals shifting from David Byrne-style nervousness to full-throated howls while guitar work spans from jangly indie to angular post-punk, sometimes within the same measure. From there, the record never settles into comfortable territory. “Humdrum” brings scatty nervousness that recalls early Cure, all twitchy rhythms and paranoid energy. At the same time, the title track strips everything back before “Insect” tears it all apart with lo-fi metal that morphs into melodic indie rock.

What emerges is a portrait of restless creativity that traditional song structures can’t contain. Dickson’s voice becomes an instrument of tension throughout, stretching and contorting around the music rather than simply riding on top of it. The controlled stops and explosive releases show his understanding of dynamics – essential for making experimental music that connects. “Shakedown” delivers pure punk explosion before “Homecoming Queen” flips into campy doo-wop glam that recalls peak-era Bowie filtered through modern anxiety, Dickson’s falsetto acrobatics swinging between quiet and loud like a sledgehammer.

The journey concludes with “Drifting,” which stretches past seven minutes and pulls one of the year’s best fake-outs – building to what sounds like an ending around the two-minute mark before launching into five more minutes of instrumental exploration. It could feel gimmicky, but instead feels earned, like Dickson genuinely couldn’t contain all his ideas in a standard song structure.

What makes “Spill” work isn’t just Dickson’s obvious talent – though his vocal range and guitar skills are impressive – but his understanding of how to balance theatre with authenticity. The music is deliberately dramatic without feeling forced, experimental without losing its emotional core. It’s the sound of someone who’s absorbed influences from Bowie to Barrett to modern post-punk and filtered them through their restless energy.