Ela Minus Kicks Off the New Year With Shimmering Pop Daydream “Smile”

2015 was a banner year for pop maximalism, for better or worse. Though the newfound pop sensibility many artists embraced last year is a welcome change from the upturned noses and rockist sentiments that roam free in the underground, taking a break from the turn up is always gratifying. Ela Minus steps back from the noise in her new SoundCloud loosie “Smile.” Over shimmering synths and tiptoed drum hits, Gabriela Jimeno puts a more honest face on the outgoing year: “How to say/that I’m broken?/But you make me smile, like a baby around his mom.” If these are the kinds of twinkling-yet-heart-rending couplets Jimeno can craft in “one night, half asleep, without thinking too much,” then we can only hope that she’ll bring us even more delectable slices of pop splendor over the next 12 months.