Kid Moxie may not yet be a household name, but when you have not only The Gaslamp Killer, but David Lynch’s musical half, Angelo Badalamenti, asking to contribute to your sophomore record, chances are that you’re pretty profound… in some manner or another… This Tuesday, December 2nd, sees the release of 1888, the sophomore LP of Greek-born/LA-residing musician and actor Elena Charbila, better known in the musical world as Kid Moxie. The album was quite some time in the works, serving as the follow-up to 2009’s Selector. It plays not-entirely-unlike avant-garde dance club remixes of songs Badalamenti penned for the likes of Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive. Most of the album is very danceable, but seems more suitable for neon-lit, introspective discussions with those your heart considers to be most trustworthy… a cohesively-whole soundtrack to the most significant scenes of the movie of your life…
I recently got a chance to chat with the both ineffably charming and wisely existential Elena Charbila about 1888. She explains her latest work as representing a relatively significant step forward from her 2009 debut: “I feel like the first LP was a lot more girly, electro-pop songs. The second is a little more cinematic pop, whereas the last one was more electronic pop.” The collaboration between Elena and Angelo Badalamenti is even literally cinematic… The two remake “Mysteries of Love,” a song co-written by Badalamenti and David Lynch and originally sung by Julee Cruise for Blue Velvet. And while the new version isn’t miles from the original, it proves to be beautiful reminder of some of the most overpowering ways in which two artistic mediums can interact. Elena explains to me that it’s not only Badalamenti as a musician that she admired, but he and Lynch as two parts of the same work of art: “He was one of my heroes growing up in Greece. Lynch and Badalamenti and the aesthetic they created was just so significant to me as a teenager.” She also tells me that getting to know Badalamenti was not only a pleasure, but a massive honor: “He’s one of the most generous and magical people I’ve ever met and the whole idea of thinking that he likes what I do, was the biggest compliment.”
In addition to getting to know Angelo Badalamenti, Elena has also gotten to know David Lynch. She works with the David Lynch Foundation, which seeks to raise both funds for and awareness of Transcendental Meditation, something that she tells me has played a very positive role in her life in recent years: “I started doing TM as a gift for myself five years ago on my birthday and I read a book by David Lynch about meditating and talked to him about it and that was the start of my involvement with the project.” This would seem to play a part in her most recent influences and those found on 1888. Elena describes the album for me as being “ethereal,” with her goal being, “Creating an overall atmosphere.” When I ask her about what influences her music, she explains the most of her most significant current influences aren’t necessarily musical (or even tangible): “I’m very influenced by imaginary settings and scenarios, the mystical, far-away, unattainable, prehistoric… Atmosphere is a guide through the whole process.”
