Iyla Elise delivered the gospel of blues with her latest single, Better Days, a soul sermon that cuts to the quick of existing in a world so removed from what once felt familiar. Her take on modern disillusionment isn’t an empty promise that the sun will rise shinier tomorrow, but an intimate exploration of moving forward when forward is no longer linear. As Elise traces the backroads through melancholic introspection, she illustrates how it’s possible to let your soul steer you somewhere softer, somewhere more yours, while the rest are swept away by whatever current has them.
Better Days becomes a mirror to the soul, where the distortion of modernity doesn’t swallow you whole but instead reflects the grace needed to keep walking. Elise’s vocals pierce through the earthy amalgam of blues and Americana like a thread of light through fog. As the guitar scales roll in, sometimes swelling with amplified redemption, sometimes dancing through intricacies, there’s a sense of solace woven into the composition.
Originally from a small town on the east coast of Virginia, Elise draws on a wide pool of influences, from John Denver to Norah Jones, but in Better Days, the sound is unmistakably her own. Her 2023 release Outlier already cemented her lyrical reach, and Better Days proves she’s still tapping deeper into her well of truth, resilience, and hard-won clarity.
Better Days is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast
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