Esore Alle: An Interview

Riding the high of the positive reception of their EP ‘My Beautiful Kind’ released in June, Esore Alle headlined The Sunflower Lounge on 11th July as part of a showcase by Uncover.  

Esore Alle are a West Midlands based band, performing a hybrid of genres ranging from Midwest emo to ballads and pop. The sound of Esore Alle is a unique amalgamation of wide-ranging influences, with drummer Adam Jana and guitarist Sebastian (Seb) Blackhurst drawing on 2000s emo highlights such as Fall Out Boy and Muse, while singer Aedan-James (AJ) Montague and pianist Jackson Birch are inspired by 60s and 70s songwriters such as David Bowie, Elton John, and their contemporaries such MIKA.

Photo of Esore Alle at BIMM Live by @samfrankwood_ on Instagram

Pronounced es-or-alley (or ez-or-alley, they expressed no preference), their name is an ode to a book written by singer AJ and his sister Ella Rose. AJ explained, ‘‘it’s all dedicated to [her]’, so to perform under an anadrome of her name – with an extra e ‘because we’re epic’ – seemed fitting.

Released in June, ‘My Beautiful Kind’ EP represented a new era for Esore Alle, focusing on the themes of ‘sexuality and love’, however the band have been writing prior to embarking on this project, with AJ debuting as a songwriter at 14 with ‘I Love You But You Love The Wombats’.  

Initially formed by AJ and Jackson who bonded over their shared self-proclaimed ‘male manipulator’ music tastes, the band was seemingly ‘drawn together by fate’, explained AJ. The pair had connected at the height of a creative slump and period of artistic isolation for the singer. ‘I said to myself someone’s going to get in touch tomorrow’ and the lineup of Esore Alle followed ‘like a chain reaction’, seeing Seb join on guitar and Adam on drums.

Their performance that night included their song ‘My Beautiful Kind, Pt. 2’, the band’s favourite from the EP. Part 1 was considered ‘more hopeful’ and theatrical in tone, while Part 2 is it’s more aggressive counterpart (joined by a pop-punk style production), natural given they said they were angrier writing it.

‘Yeah I’m going crazy, in a world that hates me – can you blame me?’ - My Beautiful Kind, Pt. 2

When reflecting on the creation of the EP, the band were confident it represented their best writing, saying ‘you can’t top perfection’. Determined to publish their anthology of songs in time for Pride in June, the band said the creative process was true to the spirit of an indie band at university – ‘we dilly dallied bruv’. The first recorded EP between the band members, they felt they were tackling a steep learning curve in the studio, running into it ‘blindfolded’, with the process taking longer than they had thought it would.

‘I don’t think we realised just how much work it needed’ - Seb

With future recorded projects, the band want to try collaborating with producers and take a more structured approach to avoid feeling so rushed. Their ‘go for it and see what happens’ attitude stood them in good stead however, with the release a hit amongst fans who sang along proudly throughout the night.

While the EP gained them a newfound notoriety, the band had previously released fan favourites such as ‘Tizer’. ‘Everyone loves it so we love it’ said AJ, but as for seeing it live or hearing it on Spotify the band are making efforts to ‘save it from being overplayed’. ‘My Beautiful Kind Part 2’ shows a continuation and development of this pop-rock theatrical hybrid for Esore Alle so ‘Tizer’-diehards may hope to see this be a direction the band continue to follow.

Esore Alle one day hope to one day perform the O2 Academy Birmingham, or the Utilita Arena, their apparent end game for Birmingham ‘before we fuck off to Australia or Amsterdam’ although they recognise that is ‘a million miles away’ right now. They dream of one day touring with the likes of Custard, Gossip, Wet Leg, Decklan McKenna, Chappell Roan, or Harry Styles, but for now fans can look forward to their upcoming gigs supporting Vala at The Vic on September 12th and further currently unannounced performances later in the year.