She made you happy
She made you smile
You sit so closely
You sit for a while

Her broken promises
Your broken smile
By broken treasure
We'll sit for a while

I know you're waiting
But I know you're far
I know you're crying
You'll cry for a while

You loved her so deeply
You loved for a while
You loved her so deeply
You loved for a while

Treasure

Former front man of '90s London indie hopefuls The Spectators, Ellis hit his 40s after two decades of musical quiescence with a headful of song - largely induced by his confused, but (mutually) liberating extraction from an ailing and failing marriage.  
 
The songs brim with melody and melancholy, musing on life lessons, love lost and middle aged angst.  A dash of humour and a smack of self-derision stops the songs tipping over into sentimentality, but never take away from the candour at their core. 
 
In a world awash with male-singer-songwriter-piano-players, he doesn't lay claim to uniqueness (think Gary Barlow meets Elton John in a dark space and a bad mood). But the voice is dirt swathed in radio-friendly velvet, and the songs are immediate and infectious in their simplicity.  
 
He cites Leonard Cohen, Scott Walker and Nina Simone as influences and describes his music as "infinitely more effective than selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors." 

He follows his 2019 EP, The Truth, with The World Returned, a more rhythmically driven and sonically rich set of songs which on one side consider our tendency toward complicit subjugation to technology, and on the other potential of hope for the future.
 
Stephen Ellis lives in Prestwich, Manchester and can be found “in and around” with piano in tow. His second EP, The World Returned is now available and more will follow later in the year.

Treasure

Ellis B.