Ellis, the alias of Canadian-based musician Linnea Siggelkow, has just announced that her sophomore LP, no place that feels like, will be released on April 26th, 2024. Her debut EP, The Fuzz, in 2018 and her first LP, Born Again, in 2020 gained Ellis’ intimate, powerful, and clarifying indie rock songs the comparisons to artists like Mazzy Star and Slowdive from Pitchfork, NPR and FADER. 

no place that feels like is an album of firsts for Ellis. Through playful experimentation and pushing her own boundaries, Ellis’ sophomore LP will split the difference between tracks that are cozy and conversations with others that are soaring and cathartic. On this Ellis shares, “I was pushing myself to write in ways that I hadn't before. I was trying to think of songwriting more as a craft that I could practice, which made it less intimidating and allowed me to push myself out of my usual comfort zone.”

Ellis’ music is for the searchers and overthinkers of the world. She isn’t concerned with clear-cut answers and convenient revelations but the grueling contemplative work that goes into figuring out who you are, how you handled the past, and where you want to be in the future. no place like home features eleven delicate and playful tracks where uncertainty and doubt are turned into resonance.

no place that feels like Tracklist:

1. blizzard

2. forever

3. obliterate me

4. taurine

5. mouth full of goo

6. it’ll be alright

7. what i know now

8. balcony hymn

9. prelude

10. home

11. devil’s punchbowl

While Ellis has been relatively quiet since her last release in 2021, no place like home is her triumphant culmination of countless tough decisions and second guesses while she finds comfort and self-power in an uncentered world. Ellis’ songs show that it’s hard to move forward alone without hard work and tough questions. We had the opportunity to chat with Ellis about no place like home and we are so excited to help celebrate this LP’s release. Read all about it below!

THIRTEEN: Hi Ellis! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! Could you tell our readers a little bit more about you and your musical persona?

ELLIS: Thanks for having me! I started Ellis as a solo project but didn’t know what I wanted to call it. My full name, Linnea Siggelkow, is a bit of a mouthful lol, but I still wanted to find a name that felt like it represented me in a personal way somehow. I had a folder of demos on my computer that I marked with my initials (L.S), which eventually turned into ‘ellis’. i don’t think there is any real persona - ellis is me! and this project is a way for me to get to explore parts of myself that i might not otherwise uncover.

THIRTEEN: Congratulations on the upcoming release of your sophomore LP, no place that feels like! Can you expand on the title of the album? Why did you choose to leave it open ended? 

ELLIS: ah, thank you so much! When I started writing this record, I didn't fully know what it was going to mean to me until I wrote the song ‘home’, which has sort of become the thesis of the album. ‘no place that feels like’ is a lyric from that song, which is also left open ended until the very end of the track. I liked that there is an obvious implication without totally spelling it out.

THIRTEEN: It’s mentioned that no please feels like is an album full of firsts for you. What is one of those firsts you will continue to use in future projects?

ELLIS: One thing I've learned is that I like to be alone when I'm recording vocals. I find it to be the most vulnerable part of the whole recording process, and so learning to engineer my own vocals was something that was really important to me! It allows me to be more free and experimental with my takes, and gives me the luxury of allowing myself as much time as I need to get things just right. I tracked all of the vocals for this record completely by myself, and I can't imagine ever doing it any other way.

THIRTEEN: Some songs are cozy and conversational, while others are soaring and cathartic. How did you bring these two different sounds together to create an album that feels comprehensive?

ELLIS: To be honest, there was a point when I was writing these songs where I worried they didn’t all fit together but once they were recorded and I had solidified the tracklisting, it really seemed to make sense. It felt like a bunch of puzzle pieces that were each exploring the same ideas from all of these different angles, rooted in all of these different feelings. My perception of things is constantly shifting, and this record is a reflection of that.

THIRTEEN: no place feels like explores some very emotionally charged subjects. How does it feel to have a vulnerable project out into the world?

ELLIS: ugh, i’m a pisces sun with a scorpio moon - i have never had much trouble expressing the emotional parts of myself (lol)! I have wondered how I will feel playing some of these songs live, but there is also something about that experience that I know will be, just … very deeply healing and I am so grateful for that.

THIRTEEN: You’ve worked with a long list of amazing artists and collaborated on a variety of projects together. In what ways do you offer your own influence and accept influence of other artists on your own projects?

ELLIS: This is something that is still a bit new to me, and I am still figuring things out! I have historically been very insular when it comes to my own songwriting. I feel very protective of my songs, and especially of my lyrics! I imagine I will always sort of feel that way. But, I did push myself out of my usual comfort zone to collaborate on some of the arrangements on this record, and that has really opened up a whole new world for me. I sometimes get so stuck on an idea that I can't imagine it any other way, and it can be so refreshing to have another mind in the room to offer a new perspective and to land on something I would have never discovered on my own.

THIRTEEN: How is no place feels like home similar to your previous EPs and LP? Or do you feel your sound has changed over the years?

ELLIS: it’s so similar in some ways and so different in others! I've definitely become a lot more confident in the recording process, and I think you can hear it. I used to like my vocals to be very dark and buried in the mix, and now they’re sort of front and center - I'd never have imagined I would be comfortable enough to make that choice! but my songwriting has always been autobiographical, and it kind of feels like each project picks up where the last one left off. I hope there is some sense of familiarity in these songs, but I hope there is some sense of growth too.

THIRTEEN: Which track was the most difficult for you to write, either emotionally or lyrically?

ELLIS: ‘balcony hymn’ is the only song i’ve ever written while actively weeping, but it was also one of the easiest to write in the sense that it quite literally did just pour out of me in a matter of minutes. I think my most emotional songs are often written that way, maybe because they fully exist in that particular feeling before I've had the time to intellectualize them at all. 

THIRTEEN: What is one thing you hope listeners take away from this LP?

ELLIS: Some of these songs are very specific and very obviously personal, but the biggest thing that I always hope is that someone will hear them and see themselves in them - that’s what makes my favorite songs special to me. If this record can mean anything to anyone, I am lucky! 

THIRTEEN: What can we expect to see from you in the coming months?

ELLIS: The record comes out April 26 and I am playing release shows in Hamilton and Toronto to celebrate - hopefully lots of more shows to come!