Episode 78: Landon Elliott

There’s a lot of symbolism in the act of cutting hair. The haircut Landon Elliott gives himself in the video for “aftermath” – the first release from his new album, also called aftermath - is full of it. On the surface, it’s simply a guy getting busy with the electric clippers, but there’s a good deal more to it. There’s the fact that he does it himself, shaving off his own headful of red-brown waves like an act of defiance. And it’s his first haircut in eight years. All told, something significant is going on here. By the end, as he stares up at the camera, the hair is gone. He looks like a different guy. He is a different guy. So much has changed in the singer-songwriter’s life since he made his 2019 debut album, Domino, that he’s made a new record to come to grips with it all – and to reach out to others who might be going through what he did. The self-released aftermath is Elliott’s reckoning with his past and his future, in the form of 11 beautiful, straight-talking tracks. The “aftermath” video acts as an introduction; delve into the rest of the album and meet the new Landon: overthinker, storyteller, lover, empath, father, gay man. “This album is a reset,” he says. “I feel much more myself these days.” Aftermath isn’t like many other albums you’ll hear this year. It’s a story of growth, forgiveness – and the transformational joy of becoming exactly who you are.