Last month, Colombian artist Ela Minus announced her new album, DIA, out January 17, 2025 via Domino, and released the “swaying, cathartic dance anthem” (Brooklyn Vegan) “BROKEN.” Today, Ela unveils “UPWARDS,” presenting Ela relishing in pure pop splendor. An unabashed and addictive theme song for, as Ela says, “safeguarding yourself, your body, and your soul,” “UPWARDS” is unforgettable on first listen. It is propelled by an unrelenting pulse and sharp refrain as Ela chants over and over “I’d love to save you / but you’ve got to save yourself,” all while aggressive and busy synths bounce underneath, feeling like lasers waging a war against the song itself.
The “UPWARDS” video, which sees Ela collaborating with directors Albert Estruch & Marc Sancho (of Querida), creates a unique visual and auditory experience by featuring Ela in the center of a circle with her instruments, surrounded by cameras and screens that capture and show different angles of the action in real time.
Ela also announces several more 2025 tour dates, including headline performances throughout Australia, in London, Barcelona, Bogotá, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago (on sale this Friday, Nov. 22nd here). As Hearing Things described a recent live performance, Ela’s “hypnotic pop-techno made it feel like time had turned inside out.”
Watch the Video for Ela Minus’ “UPWARDS”
Following Ela’s charged 2020 debut, acts of rebellion, DIA is a rarified feat in electronic music, where cutting-edge production and space-shuddering sonics meet a burgeoning singer-songwriter’s real sense of self-reflection and private reckoning. Where acts of rebellion felt intentionally small, as if pounding inside the club with late-night reverie, DIA is both introspective and expansive, the wide sweep of its songs revealing more of Ela as person and producer than ever before.
Throughout the 10 songs, mixed by Marta Salogni and mastered by Heba Kadry, Ela seems to saddle a line between worlds of pop accessibility and experimental aplomb, her incandescent and catchy choruses always surrounded by meticulous and imaginative sonics. DIA is a record about becoming, from a process that entailed self-discovery at a deliberate pace to songs that seem to collectively ask where we go from here, long after we’ve been broken but long before we intend to be broken forever. “I want to be better,” Minus sings in the hook of the title track, her voice a militant chirp pulling against a plunging bassline. “I thought I was better.” Opening the mountain and exposing her deepest worries, DIA marks the next phase of Ela Minus’ career and life without declaring where any of it may or must go.
As previously announced, Synth Historyis launching an ongoing and in depth docu-series on Ela’s story and music. Preview the first episode here and second here. Ela recently launched www.forthebirds.xyz, a platform where fans can write to Ela, and she writes back, covering personal and technical topics or whatever approach grabs her interest.
Pre-order DIA
Listen to Ela Minus’ “UPWARDS”
Watchthe Video for Ela Minus’ “COMBAT”
Watch the Video for Ela Minus’ “BROKEN”
Ela Minus Live Performance Dates
(New Dates in Bold)
Sat. Dec. 14 – Berlin, DE @ Silent Green (OPIA)
Fri. Jan. 17 – Bogotá, CO @ Homecoming Release Day Show – To Be Revealed!
Sat. Feb. 1 – Manchester, UK @ Victoria Warehouse ^
Mon. Feb. 3 – Paris, FR @ Zenith *
Tue. Feb. 4 – Luxembourg, LX @ Rockhal *
Wed. Feb. 5 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli *
Thu. Feb. 6 – London, UK @ Roundhouse *
Fri. Feb. 7 – London, UK @ Roundhouse *
Sat. Feb. 8 – London, UK @ Roundhouse *
Sun. Feb. 9 – Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy *
Mon. Feb. 10 – Bristol, UK @ Bristol Beacon *
Tue. Feb. 11 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique *
Wed. Feb. 12 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique *
Fri. Feb. 14 – Berlin, DE @ Velodrom *
Sat. Feb. 15 – Barcelona, ES @ Astin (Nitsa)
Thu. Feb. 20 – London, UK @ Oslo
Fri. Mar. 7 – Moyston, AU @ Pitch Music & Arts
Sat. Mar. 8 – Meredith, AU @ Golden Plains XVII
Sun. Mar. 9 – Adelaide, AU @ WOMADelaide
Sat. Mar. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
Wed. Mar. 18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Public Records
Fri. Mar. 21 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
Thu. Mar. 27 – Mexico City, MX @ Foro Puebla
Sun. Mar. 30 – Bogotá, CO @ Estéreo Picnic
* = supporting Caribou (Live)
^ = supporting Floating Points (DJ Set)
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]