All of America adores Elle Coves and her latest EP, 'No Good At Hanging Up'
- blondevibrations
- Sep 18
- 6 min read
Elle Coves is quickly becoming one of the most promising emerging artists on the music scene. With each release, she combines poignant lyricism with a sound that feels emotionally grounded, and speaks honestly and directly to her fans . Her latest EP, 'No Good At Hanging Up', is a testament to just how much she has honed her craft. It is the work of an artist growing more assured in her voice, her perspective, and her ability to turn true vulnerability and ache into something so universally resonant.
'Peace' feels like it has cracked the code for the perfect pop track - fans online have been shouting, 'welcome back, 1989-era Taylor Swift!' . Elle Coves bares all here, confronting the emotional chaos of walking away from a relationship, not out of anger, but to finally catch her breath. Across 'Peace', Elle has handled heartache with grace, acknowledging a quiet, brave choice to let go. Above all, if you are going to be heartbroken over being unable to truly find a common ground with someone, you may as well throw in an intoxicating pre-chorus and dance your way through every feeling.
'Tightrope' is the kind of track that fans of Kelsea Ballerini and Cate will find themselves enjoying on repeat. At its core, it captures love as this restless cycle and the push and pull of setting something free while clinging on to the hope that it may one day circle back. It is the soundtrack to moments where clarity feels out of reach and you are left wondering whether you are holding space for something real or if it is simply just draining your energy. Lines like 'This in between is making me sick' heighten that restless tension. Sometimes it is easier to dive head first into the deep end, or even walk away entirely, rather than the treacherous unease of going into a no man's land. 'Tightrope' lives in this space, the liminal in-between, where the grief of postponing happiness meets the fragile belief that there is something worth waiting for. The chorus feels like an escape of bottled up emotion, aching with honesty, 'I'm walking out on a tightrope / we're hanging on high hopes / that after the break we'll find our way back' before softening into surrender with 'and when we're done with the running / baby, you'll know where to find me'. This is a track for those who hold onto potential, as the thought of mourning a lost connection is heavier than the weight of waiting because, in the end, maybe love will be the result.
'Body' following directly after feels like a further telling of the story, this time where emotions are wrapped in contradiction. Within the idea of romanticising 'right person wrong time', Elle speaks to the tendency to find beauty in the mess and spin a justification on why something ended, rather than confronting the harder truth that perhaps they simply were in fact not the right person at all. The lyric 'makes me kind of sick to think about another body in your sheets' cuts straight to that raw, involuntary jealousy that seeps in at times. It arrives and taints the thought of what they are doing, with who, at any time. Even when you can acknowledge that you cannot have someone, the thought of them actually moving on becomes unbearable. The admission of hypocrisy is interesting, maintaining her own freedom to pursue others, but hearing the other end feels devastating despite this seemingly mutual ending. The standout lyric of the track is 'I can't take the thought of losing the top spot'. It feels devastatingly honest, revealing the ego crush beneath the disappointed exterior. Elle captures the idea of that pedestal you occupied crumbling beneath you as the space you took up in somebody's mind becomes smaller and smaller, shrunken to the point where all that's left is the humiliation of walking out the door.
Every track feels tied to a different shade of grief, and this one captures the moment it stops being abstract and becomes painfully real behind the justifications and pretending to be fine. 'Hit Me Where It Hurts' is born from the fallout of being strung along, you might have convinced yourself it was okay, tried to will it into being, at the end you feel disoriented by what the situation has become. Lines like 'when you feel me slip, you reach back, and you grab my hand / some nerve you got, sending me songs at midnight' make this ache tangible. You can feel that same hollow freeze in your heart when that text banner comes through from them and the world stops in one single, sinking second. The admission of 'I can't live in your in between / God, it's brutal waiting for you' exposes the deep pain that we first glimpsed on 'Tightrope', the messy back-and-forth that was once deemed as casual in 'Body'. Sometimes, the stark truth is the only route to freedom, and Elle demands it, telling them to 'Put me out of my misery / Give it to me straight honey / Hit me where it hurts'. She is finally ready to hear what she has been avoiding, and in that hearing, the unknown can no longer scare you and you slowly can begin to be free.
The placement of 'Hit Me Where It Hurts' in the project was so necessary for 'Friend of Mine' to truly shine. Elle’s lyricism reaches new heights here, delivering one of her most earnest and devastating reflections yet on the aftermath of love lost, and how another person’s actions can completely rewire and shift the way you perceive the entire concept of love itself. To speak of love in lines like 'It ain’t no friend of mine / Oh, it made me dance just to fall on my back' carries a palpable sorrow, heartbreak echoing across each word until it transcends the track. She then follows with: 'Made the sky in the skyline up for me / Summer was a picture, but it’s painted black,' painting the stark contrast between how love once coloured her world with brightness and now even the fondest memories now feel bleak and ruined. When you are not truly over someone, even the most beautiful images collapse under the weight of heartbreak. A glimmer of longing for something still shows itself in the plea 'So pick me up, baby kiss me all kind of crazy / If you think you could save it somehow / You can try fuck up my life.' It is a raw admission that even in the devastation, the pull of hope lingers. Yet the song ultimately circles back to its pessimistic refrain that sees through the plucky, beady eyed view of love with 'It ain’t no friend of mine' . It drives home the complete shift in perspective to seeing love as a betrayal, nothing to idolise or worship. This track resonates in a way that would fit right in with Holly Humberstone's discography. It is no wonder that fans rejoiced at its release, with one listener even taking to Instagram to celebrate that it was 'finally out of the vault jail.' We could not agree more.
Elle Coves making us wait until the very end of the EP for what is easily one of the standout tracks feels almost evil. Not only do we hear her voice take on a tone and texture that feels unlike anything else on the collection of songs, but she also leans into a sound that instantly earns a personal soft spot - 'All Of America' is undeniably Lana Del Rey–coded. It feels like a deliberate left turn from the softer, sweeter guitar-led sounds that have carried much of the EP, and this shift uncovers something more cinematic, expansive in an all-absorbing way. Elle is undoubtedly a cool girl here, and the track feels perfect for the stage, deserving of a sweeping, dramatic performance that silences the room. While we do not quite reach the full triumph over heartbreak, the EP closes on a note that feels like the first glimpse of light breaking through. That confident side of Elle returns from the ashes of the heartache that has surrounded her.
'No Good At Hanging Up' nails that on-repeat quality that feels like the songs never lose their shine. With Elle Coves already teasing new, unreleased music online, it is clear this EP is only the beginning.
If this project is any indication, there will be plenty more of this earnest, gorgeous sound still to come, and her next chapter is one to keep a close eye on.
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