Jennifer Elster’s first album is being released, song by song.
First four singles include C’mon Now Baby, You Know What Will Happen, Cemetery: Is Death? and How We Do (see below)
Joined by David Bronson on acoustic guitar and bass, Bre Plaza on drums, Eimi Tanaka or Elster on piano, and Mike Handelman on electric guitar. Bonus tracks include Welcome to the Wake the F*ck Up Show, The Virus Song, and Hurricane.
"Elster’s music is a restless blend of downtown avant-garde rock, outsider folk and art-pop with a sound unto herself.” —Tad Hendrickson
C’mon Now Baby (official music video)
Song and video by Jennifer Elster
C’mon Now Baby
by Jennifer Elster
My garden is of love’s wisdom
Let us not fear the walk
I am not just a woman,
but a Woman
with life’s deepest wisdom
from life’s shivering
realities
and I want you
through and through.
So c’mon now baby,
c’mon now baby
c’mon now baby
come on.
Jennifer Elster and David Bowie make music history
In 1995, Jennifer Elster was brought to London to style David Bowie for the photographic sessions surrounding 1. Outside, his dark and experimental concept album populated by a cast of fractured characters. Working closely with Bowie and photographer John Scarisbrick, Jennifer helped bring characters such as Detective Nathan Adler, Ramona A. Stone and Baby Grace to life through clothing, found pieces and altered garments. For Jennifer, the collaboration was deeply personal—Bowie had been her first concert, and their shared connection to art, character and transformation made the creative process limitless. These photographs capture a remarkable moment in which Bowie and Elster used fashion as a form of storytelling, creating the strange, theatrical world of 1. Outside one character at a time.
Read more here
You Know What Will Happen (Lyrics) By Jennifer Elster
Mama said the moon don’t lie,
Eat your fire
Disappear in the sky.
Leave you on earth to think about you and I
I’m a love volcano
Razor sharp
Lazer eyes.
But if you touch this
You know what will happen.
You’ll burn your fingers
Is that good?
It’s fire.
*Available on all streaming platforms here and follow this Youtube now for next Premiere!
Yoko Ono & Jennifer Elster — Recording at Sears Sound
Yoko Ono and Jennifer Elster at Sears Sound in New York, where Ono recorded vocalizations written by Elster. The vocalizations were featured in Elster’s ITW Pathway, a cinematic-philosophical, multimedia online excursion incorporating sound, video, and other forms of visual and experiential storytelling, and were performed as part of the forthcoming In the Woods… And Elsewhere. Their collaboration brings together Elster’s beckoning words and Ono’s singular musical voice, creating an intimate meeting of language, sound, and cinematic expression.
Amid the Beauty available now
Amid the Beauty I see broken people everywhere.
Amid the Beauty is more than just a song—it's an anthem for unity in a fractured world. Elster's poignant lyrics reflect the societal tension that inspired the track. With Mike Handelman on guitar and Eimi Tanaka on piano, the song is the fourth single from her debut album. After a tour of emotionally charged performances, the song became central to Elster’s work, resonating deeply as a message of both critique and hope.
Amid the Beauty lyrics
by Jennifer Elster
Amid the beauty I see broken pieces everywhere.
Amid the beauty I see broken pieces everywhere.
People confused angry and hateful, not getting anywhere.
At the end of the day, we need each other, bring everyone together.
Together from everywhere.
Together from everywhere.
Amid the beauty I see lunatics everywhere.
Amid the beauty I see lunatics everywhere.
Video art Unknown by me. This video recorded live by Peter Pavlokis.
Other songs (scroll) down yonder include, We Don’t Want that for Our Future?, The Virus Song, and Concern Citizen.
You Know What Will Happen (official music video)
CEMETERY: IS DEATH?
By Jennifer Elster
Jennifer Elster invites a group of talented New York City artists to her studio . Upon arrival, they become part of a tragicomedy, an experimental musical art piece that is just as much charged with anger as it is humor, but still the question remains: IS DEATH FINITE? This piece has been performed at The Development Underground, The New Museum, Central Booking Gallery, Cornelia Street Cafe, and Westpark.
IS DEATH FINITE? features Jennifer Elster, who wrote and directed the piece as well as provided harmony and vocals. Sugar Vendil (composer and classical pianist and interdisciplinary artists, Antonym) and Trevor Gureckis (award-winning composer and producer, The Crowded Room, Servant, Old) play the keyboard, Crockett Doob (editor, Beasts of the Southern Wild) is on drums and Julia Wilkins (experimental dancer, ‘here there nowhere’ ) dances.
How We Do (official music video)
Song and video by Jennifer Elster. Mike Handelman on Electric Guitar. Bre Plaza on Drums
How We Do is the third single from Jennifer Elster's, upcoming, debut album of love and experimental songs.
How We Do (Lyrics) By Jennifer Elster
I love you.
And I know, I know, I know, you love me too.
It's what we do. To get through.
And another, another, another, won't due.
Your struggles, your fears, your triumphs, your tears, your failed cover-ups, is how you do. To get through.
I watched you become you.
My tenderness, and even my chaos too. Is how I do.
God I love you.
*View full lyrics here
c. The Development Productions, LLC 2022
YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN
THE HURRICANE - WE DON’T WANT THAT FOR OUR FUTURE, DO WE?
“I am in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Surviving a natural disaster is brutal. We don't want this for our future. Landmine life. House raging rapids. Everything gone outside. Filling up inside. Warning of tornado looming overhead. Slow drown, maybe. Or all at once. No we don't want this for our future, do we? We don't want that for our future, do we? Smattered existence. My chairs down the road. Cherished belongings destroyed. Take down the floors and the walls. Where'd everything go? Even worse, looking for someone you know. We don't want that for our future, do we? No, we don't want that for our future, do we?” - Jennifer Elster
YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN
Joined by Eimi Tanaku on piano and Mike Handelman on guitar
21ST CENTURY ARTIST
Celebrate America with this beat and have a dance. Video and beat coming soon
YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN
Joined by Eimi Tanaku on piano and Mike Handelman on guitar
AMID THE BEAUTY
Live at signs and symbols, with Mike Handelman on electric guitar and Eimi Tanaka on keyboard
THE VIRUS SONG
Available on all platforms HERE.
WELCOME TO THE WAKE THE F*CK UP SHOW
Available on All Platforms HERE.
AMID THE BEAUTY
Live at New Museum with Eimi Tanaka, Mike Handelman, Joel McGlynn
THE VIRUS SONG
Available on all platforms HERE.
AMID THE BEAUTY
"Here is a performance I did of a song I wrote 'Amid the Beauty'. Chris Colton played on my grandfather’ piano. This has been an incredibly challenging year for us all and so much worse for so many.It has also been an incredible year with so many fantastic people and memories. 'Amid the beauty I see broken pieces everywhere. Amid the darkness I see beauty everywhere.' - Jennifer Elster
