Nostalgic Escapism Saved Eliza & the Delusionals From the Ennui of the 2020s

Melbourne-based indie rock band Eliza & The Delusionals released their debut LP Now And Then on May 20, 2022. With singles “You,” “Save Me,” “Nothing Yet,” “Give You Everything,” “Halloween,” and “Bed Song,” the 12-track album reflects on youth and the formative years that have influenced the band’s mid-20s. Eliza & The Delusionals combined vibrant modern sounds with 2000s rock nostalgia to create an album that speaks to music fans who yearn for a sense of belonging and escapism.

Eliza Klatt (singer and sometimes guitarist) revealed to us how the band was able to escape the confines of quarantine through nostalgia and a creative redesign of their home-recording space.

The last time we spoke with you, it was mentioned that you’d been setting up a studio at home. How did creating and recording in your own space influence your creative process?

Eliza Klatt: I think having our own space at home definitely made it easier to immerse ourselves in the creative process at any time we wanted. I think because we were spending so much time at home because of lockdowns we were staying up really late and working into the night so it was good to be able to do that for as long as we wanted and then go into the next room and sleep. I think sometimes it can definitely feel a little bit suffocating if you need a short break, but for the most part we felt very lucky to have a great space in our house to create music. We also did a lot of photos and visuals in our rooms by moving all the furniture to one side.

There’s a lot of nostalgic 2000s-esque elements in everything you’ve released leading up to your album release. How do you think the pandemic and this need for a distant “normalcy” played into this recurring theme?

EK: It was kind of a natural progression for us to fall into the themes and sounds of 90’s/Y2K. I think we’ve always been influenced by that “90’s sound”, but we were using nostalgia as a form of escapism from the sad and depressing state of the world throughout 2020-21. I think being at home throughout the pandemic definitely influenced us to search within ourselves for inspiration for our new songs, rather than being inspired by the environment. We didn’t really want our record to be related to the pandemic as well, so I think this was a good way to disconnect it from that time of life.

Within the album you cover topics of reflecting on the confusion of love and heartbreak. In your perspective, what lyric/song will stick with your listeners the most?

EK: I think at the moment a lot of people have been loving ‘Save Me’. It’s one of my favourite tracks on the record because of the lyrics.

We saw you in Vegas back in 2020 when you were opening up for Silversun Pickups on tour. Even though the crowd wasn’t too familiar with you, I remember how engaged everyone was with your set. How do you feel you’ve grown performance-wise since then?

EK: That was such a fun show, and our time in Las Vegas was one of our fondest memories! I think we’ve definitely found our feet a bit more as a five-piece on stage. Ruby was pretty fresh in the band at that stage, in fact that was her first full tour with Eliza & the Delusionals as a permanent member. I think for me personally I’ve grown more confident as a front person, and I don’t feel like I need to hide behind my guitar as much for the songs where I’m just singing.

So you’ve been playing shows in Australia, you’re playing Bottlerock in the US, and your album is coming out soon. Can we expect a possible tour outside of Australia any time soon?

EK: We’re so excited to play Bottlerock! We’ve been looking forward to it since 2020 when we were supposed to play the festival. We’re definitely excited to tour in the USA and it’s on our plans for this year, we’re just working through some things before we can make it happen. We can’t wait until we can though!

Listen to Eliza & The Delusionals’ debut album Now And Then