Entropy: Elnuh’s Sonic Disarray Grapples with Emotional Turmoil
Elnuh has never been one for melodramatic antics. Whether performing solo or with her trusted ensemble–Luke Mitchell on bass and Daniel Puente on drums– she is known for her dreamlike aural shrouds of reverberating notes and fragmented lyrics that capture her stream of consciousness. Her music tackles the complexities of relationships while grappling with existential questions about the banality of everyday moments. Her last album, Topics, was spacious and crystalline, with upbeat electropop melodies that floated over understated guitar and soft psychedelic hues. With Entropy, the songs’ emotions exceed the scope of the lyrics, gradually unraveling into sonic disorder.
In short, Entropy pulverizes disillusionment into a few words, immerses them in reverb, and hurls them through a dizzying whirlwind through the stages of grief, where alienation and doubt spiral and collapse into the realization that you are no longer the person you were before the hurt.
Though some of these songs have existed in self-produced form for years, Entropy marks the first time they’ve been given full studio treatment, courtesy of Brant Sankey at Studio E. Yet, despite the polish, the emotional core remains true to Elnuh’s essence.
From the opening lines of Who U R, the album fixates on identity and perception. The recurring questions, "Who did you think I am?" and “I wish I knew just who you were,” echo across several songs, acting as a refrain for an internal crisis.
The uncertainty deepens in the unsettling limbo of heartache and moving on, particularly in the slow-building, fluttery rhythms of Blue, which arpeggiates into a loud shoegaze noise fest at every chorus. Meanwhile, the softer 9AM Phone Call seems to carry Elnuh’s voice on cavernous winds, lifted by steady, heartbeat-like drumming as she wrestles with feeling left behind and unheard, asking “Why won't you answer my call?” Everyday moments descend into the emotional purgatory of questioning why we can’t be loved and the confusion of how we measure our own self-worth.
The instrumental title track Entropy serves as a reflective interlude, washing away anxiety with soft undistorted guitars before Mitchell and Puente return, reintroducing a heavier tone that bleeds into Willow. This is where the album shifts into a more resigned sorrow that she “can't escape.” Here, we reach the depression stage in the cycle of grief before returning to bargaining with If Only, a track whose hypnotic repetition mirrors a mind stuck in rumination, still searching for what has already been lost.
By the time we arrive at Albatross, with its weary acknowledgement that we must “live and learn,” the album transitions into a more hardened perspective. Resilience is present in her grief, but it is not triumphant; it is a fatigued acceptance rather than a victory.
The closing track Dog takes a more accusatory turn, confronting deception and betrayal. Originally released in Elnuh’s 2020 Happy Little Demo X3, the imagery in the song is particularly visceral with lyrics like "Face in your piss again". In the final lines, “I am, and I could be a dog” the song ends with Elnuh reclaiming power through the very insult she threw.
Entropy does not offer answers or resolutions to grief, only the comfort of knowing that regardless of context, someone else is experiencing loss and asking the same questions. Even when she paints scenes that are filled with private meaning, something universal resonates.
The album will be available everywhere on Sunday, March 30, with a release party at The Lonesome Rose on the same day . She will then embark on a 16-day tour heading west, reaching as far as Sacramento, starting April 10.
