Track Review: Masquerade // Anastasia Elliot
While some people focus on the present, the next few minutes and live in “the now”, Anastasia Elliot approaches things with the bigger picture in mind. Similar to a painter standing before a canvas, she views life with the “whole world or nothing” mentality – particularly when it comes to her musical and visual art projects. Featured in notable publications like The Other Side Reviews, Lost In The Manor, Rock Era Magazine and many others, Anastasia shares her insightful perspective on life and mental health with the globe. The latest addition to her discography is the single ‘Masquerade’.
A believer in acknowledging and treating mental health issues, Anastasia Elliot has done many public speaking engagements including lecture partnering with the National Alliance on mental Illness (NAMI) for high schoolers during the Covid pandemic. Why do I mention this? Well, it somewhat aligns with the inspiration behind ‘Masquerade’. Touching on our obscured society overridden and dominated by online culture, it is common for people to fall into the trap of believing everything on social media is real, and this perspective can result in poor mental health. ‘Masquerade’ aims to have us take a step back and explore authenticity, genuineness and realistic, um, reality.
“It is a commentary on desiring authenticity from others. Whether in relationships, friendships or in our current social media, celebrity and influencer culture. We are always navigating the ‘masquerade’ of the world and trying to figure out what is real and what is fake. This song is an anthemic call for realness and owning our true selves. Nothing is ‘too much’ when it comes to being who you truly are.” – Anastasia Elliot on ‘Masquerade’
Following her well-received single ‘London’, Anastasia adopts an eclectic and innovative sound in ‘Masquerade’. Known for her alternative pop and indie rock tunes, ‘Masquerade’ tears off the mask revealing a raw, brutally honest, gritty and grungy metal meets hard rock style. Interestingly enough, while there is a powerful metal and rock influence, particularly scorching guitars building up to catchy choruses, there is a soothing flow throughout the melody. My favourite element is definitely the interspersed piano with an outstanding piano solo bringing fragility to the mosh-worthy ‘Masquerade’.
While the melody can certainly hold its own in its frenzied brutality, Anastasia elegantly executes her powerful lyricism with haunting vocals. A delicate element in the head-spinning tune, the spine-chilling vocals highlights her desire to step out of this mire of despair and break free.
This artist was found on Musosoup #sustainablecurator