Ela Minus – DÍA

The realm of synth-pop is a curious one. While there’s more room for argument where a certain sound fits, there’s also fewer guardrails on your journey. Do you lean more toward pop and create dancefloor-ready bangers? Do you use the synth as a conduit for exploration of the farther reaches of what the technology can do? Can you attempt to split the difference in hopes that your music appeals to the tech geeks and the DJs? To borrow a foundational concept from the improv comedy world, the answer to all those questions is, “Yes and.”
This is the milieu in which Ela Minus joyfully works. In just a few short years, she’s crafted a flotilla of tunes bursting with goth club energy that have also invited remixes from some of the most inventive producers in electronic music. She self-released three EPs before signing to Domino for her 2020 debut full-length, a tremendous darkwave project titled Acts of Rebellion. To kick off 2025 in style, she upped the ante even further with DÍA, a ten-song album packed with rich, propulsive electro-pop.
Her latest explores the middle ground between hyperpop and house—think Charli XCX hanging out with Robyn and Daphni. These are productions primed for European dance clubs, and it’s because Ela Minus possesses a cunning grasp of how to combine space and sound into kinetic grooves. She starts with bubbly synth textures and molds them into familiar chord progressions, both major and minor keys. From there, she injects several substantial doses of thick, rumbling bass atop clear-eyed drum patterns that have just the right amount of syncopation.
But what really takes the entirety of DÍA up several levels are her breathy vocals. Not quite high alto, but not quite mezzosoprano, her confident voice offers a delightful counterpoint to the doubting and questioning that happens in the lyrics. The combination of lyrical vulnerability with sharp synth-driven pop melodies provides a stirring showcase for a rising talent who makes inventive tunes that flirt with broader accessibility.
It’s Minus’ commanding vocal presence that drives home the emotional poignancy behind these songs. On “Broken,” she intones “I’m on my knees / haven’t found a faith / here I am again / bending everything till it breaks.” With “Idols,” she wonders, “And I was busy trying to accept myself / to admit I felt a threat / breathing down my neck / Where were you then?” She ends “I Want to Be Better” by crying, “Please just stay a while / allow me to reach new heights / and I’ll show you a love like you have never felt before.” At the core of “Upwards,” my favorite track on the album, she pleads, “I’d love to save you / but you’ve got to save yourself / I’d love to save you / but I’ve got to save myself first.”
DÍA is heartfelt, but not purely hedonistic; fun, but never frivolous. The music of Ela Minus could be petulant with embrace of aggressive industrial-lite ideas. Instead, she opts for a mature directness that results in sensitive songcraft without shying away from pop arrangements. By layering ample electronic effects and experimental elements with a thoughtful dexterity, the album feels airy while still evincing a hefty artistic presence.
Label: Domino
Year: 2025
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