Luke Ellingson battles epic loneliness in “Hospital Bed”

Philadelphia-born, New Haven-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Noah Silvestry debuted his new project Luke Ellingson this week with a stirring rocker called “Hospital Bed.”

Silvestry, who has worked as a live music photographer for The Key in the past, developed his musical voice as drummer in the jazz / hip-hop collective Sofra as well as the indie rock project Vern Metz, which he parted ways with last year.

The new project finds him running the show, constructing his own songs at studios in Pennsylvania and Connecticut with lead guitar contributions from Max Kulicke of American Trappist, as well as bass by Max Mines. His personal musical leanings are on full display; the pensive refrain of “Hospital Bed” has a nervy, National-esque pulse, while the way the piano takes center stage on the second verse feels very Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-era Wilco.

Lyrically, it’s a reflection of anxiety as we watch our worlds change change, whether it be an increasingly insurmountable distance from old friends and loved ones as life paths diverge, or something more pertinent to the world we live in right now. “Someday in a while, clocks will lose track of time” is one of those lyrics that probably meant one thing when Silvestry wrote it, but takes on new light in the face of a global pandemic where we’re all self-isolating.

The person at the center of the song is filled with regret as they combat loneliness, but is determined to make things right.

We used to get along like wires humming and I
can’t help but want to turn back the time
If friends are just to make us feel less lonely then I’ll
try hard to keep the ones I don’t mind

That lyric from “Hospital Bed” gives Luke Ellingson the title of its debut album, Like Wires Humming. It releases on Hartford’s Funnybone Records on June 26th, and can be pre-ordered here. Take a listen to “Hospital Bed” below.