Eccentric and brash, Eli Greeneyes has today announced his deeply confessional new single 21, a chaotic yet content exploration into getting older and losing control, out today, November 25. The moving single is accompanied by a scenic video clip, filmed in collaboration with the artist’s closest friends. After a relocation back home due to COVID-19, the release of 21 feels poignant – a young person wondering what on earth is going to happen next.

Evocative of exciting artists such as YUNGBLUD and DMAs, but also with clear influences from the classics – Oasis, ­The Verve – 21 has that instant-classic feel; like a song you already know, but can’t place. It feels ready-made for summer, roadtrips, lazy afternoon swims and drinks in the backyard. Guitars glisten, percussion rambles along at a reassuring pace – but the real star is Eli Greeneyes’ ear-catching vocal. Speaking on the inspiration behind the track, Eli explains, “I wrote it in about 15 minutes about how depressed and scared I was about living my life the way I truly wanted to at 21 years old…I was becoming my own person and for some reason the thought of that was terrifying. A lot of this song is about figuring out who I am and feeling like I realised it too late, looking back at wasted time and how I wasn’t sucking the marrow out of life like I should’ve been. I was so pent up with childhood trauma and all that bullshit that I wasn’t seeing and enjoying all the positive things in front of me.”

STREAM/DOWNLOAD ‘21’ HERE

The clip for 21 feels as warm as the track itself, perfectly set in a deeply saturated lawn with a knowing nod towards the 90s influences behind the song with the use of a fisheye lens. The clip was made in collaboration with his close friend Connor Maher and partner Alex Maher, as Eli reflects, “I have never made a multi shot video before (only one shots), so the video is basically me not knowing what I’m doing and trying a whole bunch of angles and speeds of shooting. Just singing the song at the lens around the farm. I did have the shots planned-ish in terms of being slowed down or sped up, but that’s about as much planning that went into it…just a cool clip! I really like learning by just doing things I guess and getting my girlfriend or my mate to just point and shoot and see what happens.”

Mixed by Andy Lawson (Little Birdy, Eskimo Joe, Gyroscope) and mastered by William Bowden (Gotye, The Middle East, Miami Horror), 21 feels like a time capsule, something to look back on to remember what you were feeling during a particular time in your life. Personalities, thoughts, beliefs – these are all things that are subject to change, as Eli concludes, “At that age, I did the best I could, and will always be figuring it out. No one person is 100 percent buddha with all the answers. We’re all bit of a mess sometimes but I feel on the other side of that mess is a power that can’t be taught by being scared or worried all the time.”