Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Henry Derek Elis will self-release the follow-up to his debut full-length album The Devil Is My Friend (2018)–which Rolling Stone lauded as “a Southern Gothic standout”—with a new EP All The Pretty Little Horses set for physical and digital release on July 3. The EP will feature a collection of reimagined Southern Gothic covers and curiosities in ELIS’ signature brand of dark and dreary folk/ Gothic Americana. Henry Derek Elis will release his debut single and title track, a cover of the traditional African-American folk lullaby “All The Pretty Little Horses” on June 19 via Bandcamp, who will be donating 100% of their shares of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund for all of the EP purchases made on that day.
“All the Pretty Little Horses’ was the first song I recorded for this EP,” shares Elis. “It’s a track that’s been covered by several artists I admire such as Nick Cave, Current 93, Laura Veirs, Joan Baez and Coil. It’s always been one of my favorite folk songs, so it was important for me to make it my own.”
In addition to “All The Pretty Horses”, the EP features covers of songs across a span of genres which highlight Elis’ diverse musiccal career of which consists of hard rock, metal and country bands including Act of Defiance, QAALM, Cave Flowers and ex-Scar the Matyr. The track listing is a follows:
- All the Pretty Horses (Traditional folk cover)
- Dancing With Myself (Billy Idol)
- Heart of the Devil (Danzig cover)
- Alabama Highway (SteveYoung cover)
Elis states, “I’m a huge fan of these artists and cover songs in general. My goal wasn’t only to rerecord the songs in my style, but also represent them in an original way. I initially reworked them acoustically and played around with different arrangements to find the right vibe.”
