Solex is Elisabeth Esselink. Pick Up was recorded, produced, and mixed entirely by her, in the basement of her record shop in Amsterdam.
While her debut album, Solex Vs. The Hitmeister, was mostly sampled from obscure 25-cent-bin vinyl from her shop (oh, and the Cure), most of the samples on Pick Up are from recordings she made at live shows, ranging from classical stuff to metal bands. Call it a live record of sorts. Pick Up is a wilder, sneakier, more layered album than its predecessor, the baklava to Hitmeister's rugelach.
All the lyrics on Pick Up are short sketches, imaginary conversations she had on the toilet. The original title of Pick Up was Bathroom Desires.
Please note that there is no silence on Pick Up.
Bjork has never met The Residents.
“Randy Costanza” is a Pittsburgh rocker that has had considerable impact on Elisabeth.
The Solex live show has evolved into a thing of extraordinary dexterity, merging the idiosyncrasies of the albums with the immediacy of a live band. This past year, she played The Lowlands Festival, SxSW, Popkomm, CMJ, Noorderslag, Les Printemps de Bourges, Roskilde, toured Japan, Europe, and America twice, done two Peel Sessions, and met lots of nice people.
“She is a gloriously idiosyncratic songwriter, whose songs pursue their own internal logic, remarkable in their complete disregard for how a beat or rhythm should sound.” - Tim Owen, The Wire. Pick Up is in stores now.
