Elena Setién’s new album, Moonlit Reveries, out this Friday

Photo: Pablo Axpe

This Friday will see the release of Elena Setién‘s new album, Moonlit Reveries, through Thrill Jockey. The upcoming album features drummer / percussionist Glenn Kotche, who she met when he was touring Spain with his band Wilco. The pair went on to join forces, inspiring one another. “Funnily enough, I, being a Spanish artist, sought inspiration in the rhythms of a Chicago drummer to reach something with a Latin feel to it,” Setién explained. “A somehow surrealistic way to get there.”

The album also features guitar more prominently than before, which the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist pins down to Steve Gunn introducing her to the music of Bridget St. John. “What fascinated me right from the beginning, was the calmness in her voice and her low register. Her music inspired me to try to write songs with a guitar rather than a keyboard: there’s more space for the voice and the sound qualities of both voice and guitar kind of melt into each other.”

To get us enticed, Setién has shared two gorgeous cuts from the album, the title track and ‘Surfacing’. Listen to both below.


Elena Setién previews upcoming album with new single ‘In This Short Life’

Following the beautiful and delicate ‘Situation’ and the celestial ‘Unfamiliar Minds‘, Elena Setién is enticing us again with a new single called ‘In This Short Life’. The track is lifted from her much anticipated new album, Unfamiliar Minds, and is inspired and named after a poem by Emily Dickinson. ‘In This Short Life’ “embodies the duality of being both deeply rooted in the past and yet remarkably of the moment,” as the press release describes. “Stately melodies that gradually bloom over clouds of organ and hallucinatory embellishments from otherworldly instruments refracted into familiar shapes.” Take a listen now.

Unfamiliar Minds is out on January 28th through Thrill Jockey.

Elena Setién shares new single, ‘Situation’, from forthcoming LP Unfamiliar Minds

Following the celestial title track, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Elena Setién has shared the beautiful and delicate new single ‘Situation’. The track is lifted from her upcoming album Unfamiliar Minds, set for release on January 28th through Thrill Jockey. Now listen to ‘Situation’.

Elena Setién announces new album, Unfamiliar Minds

Photo: Pablo Axpe

There’s wonderful news from singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Elena Setién, who has announced the release of a new album entitled Unfamiliar Minds. The San Sebastian native composed the album during lockdown, after putting out Mirande, a collaborative album with composer Xabier Erikizia, sang in her Basque language.

On Unfamiliar Minds, and as the press release explains, “Setién reflects on isolation, confusion and harnesses uncertainty with optimism on ten ghostly wonders that capture ineffable feelings in radiant detail.” The album is further described as “a palatial guide through trial and exaltation, a meditation on disquiet and hope for uncovering what lies ahead.”

As captivating as ever, Setién continues to beguile us with her shimmering and beautiful melodies, as well as her rich and deep voice. We’ll have to wait until January 28th for the album to be out through Thrill Jockey but we can already wrap our ears around the celestial title track. Here it is.

Mixtape #103

Born in the heart of the Basque Country, Elena Sétien's music has led her to London and Copenhagen for the last two decades. Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with an independent spirit, Elena's melodies are immediately captivating. Her songs shimmer with simplicity and beauty, enhanced by her rich and deep voice telling stories of everyday life and nature. Now back in her native San Sebastian, she released last month her gorgeous new album Another Kind Of Revolution. For this month's mixtape, Elena takes us wandering through an array of wonderful and enveloping songs. Enjoy!

  1. Charles MIngus – Goodbye Pork Pie Hat [Coronet / Colombia]
  2. Søren Kjærgaard – Mr. Tutu´s Dance Cycle [ILK]
  3. Colleen – Another World [Thrill Jockey]
  4. Nico Muhly – Mother tongue Pt. 3: Hress [Brassland ‎/ Bedroom Community]
  5. Tom Waits – Jesus Gonna Be Here [Island Records]
  6. Schneeweiss Und Rosenrot – Coast Starlight Express [Yellowbird Records]
  7. Teitur – Tokspor [Playground Music Scandinavia / Tutl]
  8. Søren Kjærgaard – Kubrick [ILK]
  9. Nico Muhly – Mothertongue Pt. 2: Shower [Brassland ‎/ Bedroom Community]
  10. Joni Mitchell – Electricity [Asylum Records]
  11. Karen Dalton – Right, Wrong or Ready [Capitol Records]
  12. Bob Dylan – Shooting Star [Columbia / CBC]

Listen to Elena Setién’s new single ‘She Was So Fair’ feat. Steve Gunn

We’re just over a month away from the release of Elena Setién‘s gorgeous new album Another Kind Of Revolution, marking her debut on Thrill Jockey. The independent spirit the Basque singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is known for is central to the upcoming album, and we find her playing the majority of the instruments. The lyrics on the album, and as the label explains, “describe the beauty of everyday life, nature, and promote the forces of change not as a burden, but as the very source of hope to draw from”.

After sharing the title track, Elena is enticing us again with a new single, ‘She Was So Fair’ feat. Steve Gunn. Listen to both now.


Another Kind Of Revolution is out on February 25th through Thrill Jockey.