Kevin Bronson on June 26th, 2013

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The current wave of retro psychedelia has its serious adherents – artists who seek a more organic environment for their messages – as well as its nostalgia-mongers. The latter group, of course, faces the challenge of evoking nostalgia for a time period they know only through its music and other cultural artifacts, which frequently proves a source of bemusement for those who actually lived it. Which brings me to the man going by the nom de tune Elle Belle. It’d be easy to call Elle’s retro psych-pop a mere dalliance, except that he’s pretty darned good at it. And it figures. It turns out that Elle Belle is the alter ego of Christopher Pappas, the New Hampshire-bred singer-guitarist and main man behind the Everyday Visuals. Pappas moved to L.A. a couple years ago, released a lovely album as Miracle Parade and has played and recorded with several L.A. artists since, including Soft Swells. Elle Belle’s catchy, under-produced pop ditties are sweet as summer cocktails (some of which are likely laced with something), and Pappas is serving them up three at a time, as “tringles” – three-song digital releases. The second in the series is “Awake Is My New Scene.” Ah, time travel.

||| Stream: “Awake Is My New Scene” and “You Better Mean It”