The release of Ex:Re’s self-titled debut in 2018 marked a new avenue in music for Daughter frontwoman Elena Tonra. Stepping away from the band momentarily, Tonra’s solo venture produced a sound that leaned into much of Daughter’s past weighty lyricism and bare-bones instrumentals, and created a claustrophobic record detailing the fallout of a difficult breakup. It seemed unlikely any future material would arise from the project, with the release of a 12-ensemble arrangement of the album marking its end, though with some distance and a new Daughter album cycle since then, Ex:Re has found new life eight years later. ‘Save As’, her new album, was announced last week along with the release of its first single ‘Radio Station’.

At the heart of much of Tonra’s music is her self-reflection and vulnerability, and ‘Radio Station’ is no exception to this. The track explores the paralysis of decision-making and overthinking through confessional lyricism – “I am a changing radio station / I’m suddenly another / Suddenly another”. It’s described in the album’s press release as “a trippy song about an endless California roadtrip [...] a metaphor for how Tonra feels about her mind.”, and allows listeners a small glimpse into the kinds of inner workings Tonra intends to unpack on this record. 

Whilst a lot of Ex:Re’s music feels deeply ruminative, allowing for strong emotion to spiral across looping drums and distorted acoustics, ‘Radio Station’ is quite thoughtful by contrast, creating a mellow instrumentation where the raw slide and strum of its guitar feels deliberately exposed beneath Tonra’s sedative vocals. The addition of cello and organ from long-time collaborators Josephine Stephenson and Fabian Prynn provide shadowy flourishes to the track’s gentle build, which – alongside the track’s other collaborators, Hinako Omori (synthesiser), Ben Reed (bass) and Jethro Fox (electric guitar) – creates a looming soundscape that bring to mind past tracks like ‘New York’ and ‘The Dazzler’.

There seems to be a new air of confidence in Ex:Re, both in the refined sound this single offers, and the announcement of a small run of album release shows next month – which comes after having previously voiced her troubles with stagefright just years earlier. For long-standing fans of Elena Tonra, ‘Radio Station’ feels like a light at the end of a five-year-long tunnel since the release of Daughter’s ‘Stereo Mind Game’, and is only feeding the growing anticipation for her new album, ‘Save As’ (out October 30th).

Liesel Bradbury

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Image: ‘Radio Station’ Official Single Cover