Noah Harris

Noah Harris is a chicago based pianist, singer and songwriter who is heavily influenced by the Russian Romantic composers of the early 20th century and seeks to write ballads in the tradition of Tom Waits and Rufus Wainwright. There is a dark Cabaret quality to his songs, they are rich in harmonic complexity while remaining emotionally stark existential statements. The music is both academic and deeply emotional, an attempt to revive the spirit of the Romantic piano movement of Rachmaninov, Thaichovsky, and Chopin and apply it to a modern songwriting sensibility.

Elanors one-sheet
‘Movements’ is the sophomore release of Chicago’s Elanors, a band led by vocalist, pianist, and songwriter Noah Harris and backed by wife Adriel Harris (of Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons) with the combined rhythm section of Daniel Johnson and Rodrigo Palma (both of Judah Johnson). 'Movements' is a collection of piano-driven orchestral-pop and disarming blue-eyed soul invention. Like concert music for dirty clubs, Elanors’ music is delicate yet severe; mannered yet devastating; antique yet futuristic. For inspiration, Noah Harris and Elanors draw from the centuries of material which preceded the ‘60s brit-rock era - back to composers like Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninov, and Britten – and set their own blurred, romantic, and fractured song-pieces to sub bass and sex beats. There’s a precedent for this; bands like Blonde Redhead and Radiohead have used baroque chord progressions and melodies to gorgeous effect while Jeff Buckley and Talk Talk used sprawling, almost symphonic forms, which rethought what a popular song could be. Noah Harris and Elanors have seen themselves both as part of this great tradition as well as innovators within it. ??A first encounter with the songs of Noah Harris can be beautiful but disorienting – if only because today’s music listener wants to classify something to appreciate it. But for Noah that moment where something draws you in for sheer beauty alone, and you set aside your need to understand it, is the essential moment in the appreciation of art. ??Noah Harris, after performing under his own name for several years, formed Elanors with his wife Adriel Harris (vocals, guitar) in 2003. Movements is the second Elanors record, but first as a band (in 2004 they released A Year to Demonstrate, intimate home recordings which Noah and Adriel made on an eight-track bought with gift money from their wedding). Then in 2005, Daniel Johnson, after first coming in to produce "Movements', joined the band on drums and soon brought in musical collaborator, Rodrigo Palma, on bass.??A thread of political discourse runs through Movements, which is surprisingly free of the condescension found in most political music. This is protest music based in the most loving humanism and a pure vision of a new human relation made by young adults who are struggling to understand life in this modern world for themselves.?