by Eliana Fermi
From supporting Lewis Capaldi on tour to amassing millions of TikTok views before her debut single even dropped, Elle Coves has stepped into the pop landscape with unusual confidence for a 19-year-old still in the early stages of her career. Born in Germany, raised in Ireland, and now releasing music under Outlier Recordings/Columbia Records, Coves embodies the modern pop trajectory. Coming from bedroom sketches to global stages, she comes from the inspirations of Taylor Swift, Fleetwood Mac, Haim, The 1975, and Maggie Rogers. Her personality shines through in her blend of confessional lyrics and layered vocal arrangements. No Good At Hanging Up confirms her arrival as an artist with technical command and emotional resonance.
Opening with shimmering synth textures, “Peace” sets the tone in sound and sentiment. The synth-pop polish is cut through by Coves’ flirty, clear vocal tone, which is spotlighted in the verses and lifted further by background vocal lines in the chorus. It’s a hip production trick, but one that turns the song into an earworm with lasting power.
“Tightrope” paints with different colors. An acoustic guitar and upfront vocal begin almost like a demo in the room with you, before the chorus expands into full-band color. Drums, electric guitar, bass, and synths swell in with vocal harmonies that widen the mix. By the second verse, dreamy synth fills flicker through like starlight, creating movement and depth. The standout? Coves’ background vocal ad-libs in the final chorus, showcasing chops that suggest she’s holding back a vocal firestorm ready to be unleashed.
With its uptempo lo-fi groove, “Body” pushes into dance-pop territory. Coves articulates the quick rhythmic melody with precision, her diction clear and driving the momentum forward. The production leans on percussive synths and punchy bass, framing her voice as the song’s most expressive instrument. This is Coves proving she can command a bop as easily as a ballad.
“Hit Me Where It Hurts” is where her songwriting shows its teeth. Lines like “Turn the light off, slam the door shut / I can’t live in your in between” capture the pain of conditional love, balancing vulnerability with defiance. The chorus hits hard sonically and emotionally, pulling her into the lineage of confessional pop anthems. Production sharpens the edge with a wall of sound behind her urgent delivery. It’s a young artist writing with the confidence of someone who knows heartbreak doesn’t need to be sugar-coated.
Shifting the mood, “Friend of Mine” leans into pop balladry with acoustic guitar and low-mid tempo pacing. The beauty lies in the layering: multipart vocal harmonies shimmer across the chorus while synths gradually rise like a tide. Coves’ tone is sweet, almost conversational in the verses, but she stretches her range with ease across the melody. It’s a showcase of her ability to write and deliver songs that feel personal yet expansive, like diary entries meant for stadiums.
Closing the project, “All of America” deepens the atmosphere with synth-pop ballad styling. Drum-machine patterns steady the track while Coves’ falsetto parts soar, especially in the chorus where vulnerability becomes a strength. With songwriting contributions from Elena Coves Cascales, Noah Nockels, and Ed Drewett, and polished production from Todd Clark (mixed by Jason Dufour, mastered by João Carvalho), the track feels widescreen yet intimate, vulnerable yet polished for repeat listens. It positions Elle as a performer and a collaborator attuned to the alchemy between personal storytelling and pop universality.
No Good At Hanging Up is a solid debut project. Elle Coves proves she can balance the honesty of a songwriter with the instincts of a pop star, wrapping flirty synth-pop, acoustic-tinged ballads, and expressive falsetto around themes of vulnerability and resilience. Her control and emotive tone stand out. Her lyric craft already carries nuance and are supported by the interplay of intimate textures with stadium-sized builds of contemporary pop. For pop music fans, it’s an introduction to an artist already sounding like she belongs on the biggest stages. That’s the short of it!
