Ellie Bleach returns with razor-sharp baroque pop wonder “He Bought Me Nikes”

The brilliantly cynical track saunters in with a shimmering harpsichord opening and a self-assured bassline which perfectly accompanies Ellie Bleach’s hilariously dry and accurate lyrical observations.

“‘He Bought Me Nikes’ is about a type of guy that I’ve encountered time and time again with a God complex that leaves them totally aloof and detached from anyone that tries to get close to them,” Bleach explains. I was obsessed with the Jonestown Massacre and the heaven’s gate cult. I kept thinking, what kind of person is so magnetic, so attractive they can lure people to their own deaths? Then I realised, I know plenty of guys like that, and have fallen for one or two."

The most striking part of the song comes in the way that Bleach so innovatively wraps her sarcastic explanation of the Godlike figure in the ironic grandeur of choral layers and mellotrons, constantly poking holes in the apparent immovable arrogance of the centre figure’s exterior.

The London-based singer further explains how the new song marks a change in direction for the songwriters, as she says: “‘He Bought Me Nikes’ is a departure from my last two releases in a more confessional singer songwriter direction. Where 'Leave Me Alone' and 'Jackie O' were more of a direct 'f**k you,' 'He Bought Me Nikes' is more like 'You're arrogant enough to think no one understands, and I'm naive enough to think I can fix you.'”

It’s another impressive feat from the witty songwriter and further cements her place as a clever wordsmith to keep an eye on.