Buenos Aires, Friday, June 17, 2023.

«Elif Dame from Amsterdam and a story of overcoming in her new single 'Celexa (Buy Me Time)»

Born to a jazz pianist and retail-clerk, the Amsterdam based Elif Dame (meaning she who brings light) started practicing her creativity at a young age. Having her musical interests initially sparked by the likes of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and the gospel genre, it would greatly expand and shift through the realms of countless genres throughout the years.

By writing her first songs to the great beat tapes of MF DOOM, J Dilla and Madlib and experimenting with different sounds, Elif gradually allowed her sound to develop into an eclectic form of alternative RnB through which she touches on topics such as difficult family dynamics, mental health and her journey of introspection.

In 2019 Dame started attending a vocational music academy in Utrecht. In November of 2020 she released her first single ‘Air Masses’ in collaboration with Lo-fi producer Bertholet and followed up with her second single ‘Fuck Me Up, Why Don’t You’ at the beginning of the next year. When the singer released her third single ‘I’M SICK’ in April 2021, it became clear to her that her lifelong battle against depression in combination with the pressure to consistently put out new work had taken away the joy she previously felt in releasing and she therefore decided to go on a long overdue self-care hiatus.

"it became clear to her that her lifelong battle against depression".

In the year that followed, the artist committed herself to prioritizing her own mental health - all while documenting the process and converting it into music. Elif graduated in 2022 and got to perform her new music for the first time at North Sea Jazz round town shortly after.

On June 9th 2023 Elif Dame is back with ‘Celexa’ (Buy Me Time) - a sad yet fierce anthem of her desperation in rock bottom depression where she was faced with the difficult decision to either stay off medication and possibly risk taking her own life - or get them and face her fear of going numb and losing her ability to be creative and make music. The track is produced by Elif’s good friend and talented producer Penchi and the artwork features one of drawings she made in therapy and represents the collision and entwinement of the emotions anger and sadness. ‘Celexa’ (Buy Me Time) is the first track of Elif’s recovery story, to which she invites all listeners to join.