No Signal

Pappas talent is so far-reaching it's nothing short of staggering. The writing and instrumentation are always expertly done and the singing makes most contemporary artists look like amateurs.  - Peter Jesperson (Twin-Tone founder)The brilliance of the songs on Elle Belle's No Signal is that each one is evocative of a multitude of 80's and 90's artists from Prince to Bruce Springsteen without ever succumbing to nostalgia in any way shape or form. Rather, by creating a breakup album about the disintegration of his relationship with America and it's politics, songwriter Christopher Pappas has done something entirely new. Elle Belle has given us a collection of American anthems as beautiful as anything on Thunder Road, but with melodies and lyrics that are completely fresh and exciting. After the election I was pretty depressed recalls Pappas. Like most sane people, the 2016 election left him shellshocked. He spent that winter in NH, where he grew up, going over what went wrong. I started writing during that time and what came out felt like a break up song. That first song, which later became the titular track No Signal, acts as the thesis for the record and paints a dreary picture of two people growing apart: You and I on hard times / all around a slow divide / and there's no signal. The result is an album with a story that at times can feel cinematic - even the cover art - an incredibly close-up photo of a man (not Pappas) with nothing but a static T.V. in the background pangs of loneliness and looks like a still from a movie. I wouldn't call it a concept record, as that idea has particular baggage, but the songs do share a singular vision and narrative.Isolation. A great divide. No signal in, no signal out.No signal is a vibrant and evocative portrait of a bleak American landscape by one of the best undiscovered composers of our time.01. American Dreamer02. No Signal03. Nothing New Under The Sun04. In The Garden05. The Witch is Burning06. Yes or No07. Troubled Tongue08. The real world09. Goodnight