Listen / Save / Purchase ‘Body Ache’ – Here
Today, Cardiff-born producer and DJ Elkka returns with new single ‘Body Ache‘ – a collaboration with producer Tom VR. The standalone single arrives off the back of a jam-packed summer for Elkka, with high profile shows around the world. It marks her first new music since the release of her transcendent debut album Prism Of Pleasure, out now on Ninja Tune.
“‘Body Ache‘ feels like an extension of the world of Prism of Pleasure” Elkka comments, “It was floating around at the same time but I always knew something was missing so it didn’t end up on the record. Shortly after the album dropped, Tom [VR] and I had been working on various things, I really adore his work and I thought to send it to him to get his take, he worked on it and then it just clicked”
Speaking on the collaboration, Tom VR says, “We’ve been working on and off on different projects over the last year, and then ‘Body Ache’ just ended up flying out of the DAW, which I think is how creativity works for me. You chip away and work consistently over a long time, and then you’ll just get this flare of creativity and synergy when things align on any particular day, and everything just clicks. I like the song because it sounds like a perfect blend of the both of us, and because of the lyrics we decided on calling it ‘Body Ache’, which also underpins this idea of merging complimentary styles, as Elkka has a previous track titled ‘Body’ and I have one titled ‘Acheless’.”
Stream Elkka ft Tom VR – ‘Body Ache’ :
To celebrate the lauded album Elkka has curated a very special Prism of Pleasure show at London’s iconic KOKO next month (7th September), bringing her own compelling live show and featuring a host of hand-selected on-the-rise DJs including BELLA, fka.m4a, Fancy Shews and more. Plus performances from Little Gay Brother and a secret room hosted by London’s premiere Lesbian bar La Camionera, where Elkka recently hosted her packed out Prism of Pleasure album launch. Tickets can be found here.
Written over the space of 18 months, Prism of Pleasure encapsulated Elkka’s essence as an LGBTQ+ artist who pushes freedom and sensuality to the forefront of her work. It hasn’t always been like this: born and raised in South Wales, with next to no queer community in her immediate vicinity, Elkka had to piece together her identity slowly and curiously, gradually finding herself along the way. After coming out and moving to London in her 20s, the musician started DJing, writing and producing, which eventually led to her launching her own record label, femme culture, and running her own queer club nights off the back of that.
Written around the notion of queer intimacy, Prism of Pleasure is like a peep into a steam-filled room of wonders, via the female gaze. From the smooth, silken vocals of ‘Crushhh’ to the slow-winding, breathy beats of ‘Your Skin‘ and the steady, undulating synth patterns of ‘surrender2me’, Prism of Pleasure unfurls like a patchwork of sweat-slick nights, emotional connectedness and hidden pleasures. Upon its release the album received widespread support from the likes of Clash, The New Yorker, RA and Notion who described it as “brooding electronica pushes passion and eroticism in such a way that feels liberating”.
Elkka’s deep intuition is the unifying thread throughout her illustrious career: vibrant releases for Local Action and Ninja Tune have marked her as an unstoppable force within the London underground. She has been widely supported by her peers including Four Tet, Floating Points, TSHA, Caribou, Sofia Kourtesis, Jon Hopkins, Ben UFO, SHERELLE, and recently won an AIM Award for Best Remix for her rework of Ela Minus’ ‘Megapunk‘. Last year, Elkka released a 4-track EP of energetic club tools called DJ Friendly and she also contributed to the trailblazing DJ-Kicks series with a spellbinding mix that championed her love of women and the LGBTQ+ dance community of which Elkka is fiercely part of, regularly performing in intimate spaces and queer parties at the likes of Panorama Bar and FEEL IT.
Elkka Tour Dates:
Fri 30 Aug – *DJ* – Letz Festival – Terni, IT
Sat 07 Sep – *LIVE* – Elkka Presents: Prism of Pleasure @ KOKO – London, UK
Fri 13 Sep – *DJ* – Apollo – Milan, IT
Sun 15 Sep – *DJ* – Bordeaux Open Air – Bordeaux, FR
Thu 19 Sep – *DJ* – Watergate – Berlin, DE
Fri 20 Sep – *DJ* – Uus Laine – Tallinn, EE
Sat 28 Sep – *DJ* – Boundary Fest – Brighton, UK
Thu 17 Oct – *DJ* – DGTL ADE – Amsterdam, NL
Sat 19 Oct – *DJ* – Outlier – Bristol, UK
Follow Elkka:
Spotify – Apple Music – Amazon Music – YouTube – Bandcamp – Soundcloud – Instagram – TikTok – Facebook – Twitter
