'anything to make it loud' artist statement

i'll never leave a piece behind

“Anything To Make It Loud” is the project of LA based singer/songwriter Ella Luna. The nine tracks explore themes of intimacy, domesticity, and femininity through the lens of a queer woman in her late teens and early twenties. The sonic atmosphere combines folk, classical, and jazz elements with the indie/alternative songwriting style, creating a sound unique to Ella Luna. 

The record opens with focus track “All Silk & Satin,” a powerful song that expresses an overwhelming desire to be heard and to be seen. The first thing heard on this song is a sample of Luna’s stacked vocal harmonies from the last track on the record. Then we hear plucked electric guitar and Luna’s three part harmony on lyrics “All silk and satin / your skin my favorite fabric / I’d wear it if I could.” The first section of the song really brings the listener into Luna’s overwhelming love and desire for that love to be known. The last few lines of the song completely shift sonically, the lyric “I like the way it sounds when you spell it out / so put it on me, put it in me” bringing in a booming electric guitar, strings, horns, and the operatic voice of Lucienne Scully. The last minute of the song is entirely instrumental, none of it being Luna herself. She says this is both to demonstrate how no one can be loud without other people and that who we impact is ultimately out of our control, as well as being an ode to the players on the record. 

The next track is “Vintage Lingerie,” a folk and rock based song, set aside from the rest of the record by featuring banjo and mandolin. The song kicks in with Elizabeth Goodfellow on drums, followed immediately by Luna’s vocal harmonies, electric guitar, banjo, bass, and mandolin. “Vintage Lingerie” is one of the more self-explanatory songs lyrically, talking explicitly about motherhood and womanhood with lyrics like “It’s safe to say I want to be a mother, not to a baby but to a dog,” and “Maybe that’s just the male gene, so bless my female anatomy / I know how to treat the girl I love.” This track is one of the strongest tracks lyrically and melodically on the record.

“Laundry” is the third track of the record and the lead single. Luna is vocal about this being the song she takes the most pride in. “Laundry” is relatively stripped down sonically, with doubled acoustic guitar, three part vocal harmony, violin, viola, upright bass, and piano. What makes the track so special is the structure. Luna essentially is just letting the thoughts flow with no regard for repetition in lyric or melody. This expresses the anxiety and discomfort of lyrics like “Does it sit in your drawer? / You love me but did you love her more?” Made all the more intense with the strings coming in with a tremolo. The song is almost half instrumental, after the lyric “To think back fondly when the next girl sorts through your laundry” leading to a hauntingly beautiful string arrangement by Gregory Allison. The song ends unresolved, not ending on the root chord.

The next track is “Manarola,” an old time, jazz inspired song about independence in the small town in Italy. The song highlights trumpet player Chloe Swindler and upright bassist Allee Futterer. The song is the most simple lyrically of all tracks on the record, with clever lines about the Cinque Terre. Notably the song has a doubled trumpet and mouth trumpet solo. Overall it’s the most upbeat, light, and fun song on the record.

“Peace & Quiet” was the first song Luna wrote for “Anything To Make It Loud,” written in fall of 2020. It’s a cautionary love song, lyrically consistenting of warnings of being loved. Sonically, “Peace & Quiet” is Gregory Allisons most impressive string arrangement, carrying the song and its meaning beautifully. Luna plays a dreamy part on electric guitar throughout, alternating between plucking and strumming. Kaylee Stenberg also shines on her bass guitar in this track. The song ends with a perfect prosody following the end of the last chorus with complete silence.

“Internal Dialogue” is where Luna gets weird. The song was written over the course of making the rest of the record and recorded in a couple days, the only other players being Gregory Allison on violin and viola, and Kaylee Stenberg on bass and guitar. Luna gives an impressive performance on piano and vocals. The lyrics showcase Luna’s inner thoughts on growing up and becoming her own woman, with lyrics like “How have you been, what are you majoring in? / Damn, that sounds like a worthless degree,” and “May not need men, does that mean I need women? / Washing the dishes and folding the linens.” Luna says the track is inspired by Fiona Apple and St. Vincent with its lyrical content and musicality.

“If My Body Could Speak” is a song that Luna wished existed before but she’s grateful she got to write. It’s a love ballad, inspired by jazz love songs with felted piano, stacked saxophone, trumpet, and strings. The vocals on the song were the first take. Luna’s voice sparkles, breathy and emotional singing “You make me feel like art, sculpted with my legs apart.” Kaela Seltzer shines on saxophone and Gregory Allison shines with whiny, haunting lead violin. The song's sonic atmosphere is familiar and comforting, but the lyrics express intimacy between two women. It’s emotional, it’s sexy, it’s haunting, and it’s unapologetically queer. Luna hopes sapphic women everywhere listen to this song and feel seen for the purity and beauty of the love that is so natural and special between two women.

Luna tells us all about her desire to be a mother on “Clothesline.” Funnily enough, she didn’t know she was writing about motherhood in this track until she listened back. The song expresses the sadness and emptiness of being queer and wanting to bring life into the world. There is a deep sorrow of not being able to carry the child of the person you love when biology isn’t in your favor, whatever that reason may be. For Luna, it’s because the person she loves is a woman. So, in this song, she accepts that music will be the result of the love two women share. “Once I am older, won’t tell the children / Between the two of us, my family line is finished. / I’ll drink the coffee, float down the river / Music may be the only life I will deliver.” The song even briefly distorts Luna’s vocals to sound vaguely like a man and a baby that do not exist in this narrative. It’s sad and it’s beautiful.

The album ends with title track “Anything To Make It Loud,” almost an entirely instrumental track. The only lyrics are “I’ll stay quiet and small, for you I'd do anything at all,” a total juxtaposition to the lyrics in “All Silk & Satin.” The song is built off of the strings and saxophone at the end of the opening track, and ends with Luna on acoustic guitar and raw vocals. It was the last song made for the record, created entirely in post-production by Kaylee Stenberg and Luna in Luna’s studio apartment. The song loops perfectly with “All Silk & Satin,” making the album seamless from the last track to the first.