Q&A: ELI Pushes Obsession to the Edge with New Single “INSANE”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
ELI DOESN’T PLAY IT SAFE — The multidisciplinary artist Eli Romanova, known as ELI, has returned with “INSANE,” a track that’s as seductive as it is dangerous. Featuring Awet, with production by Grammy-winner TROY NōKA and creative guidance from the fearless Angel Haze, the single is a genre-bending collision of pop, R&B and experimental edge.
“INSANE” unravels the chaos of obsession. The track dives into the dizzying pull of fixation, where every thought, craving and desire loops back to one person you can’t escape. ELI captures the mental chaos of infatuation with sharp, hook-driven choruses and lush, genre-fluid production that drips with intensity. It’s about the beautiful kind of madness that comes with longing — dangerous, intoxicating and impossible to resist.
The accompanying music video pushes that theme even further. ELI, dressed in a black jumpsuit, leans into the track’s dark humor and surrealist edge. With a performance that’s equal parts playful and unhinged, she stages a stylized descent into obsession that’s both tongue-in-cheek and razor sharp.
Read Luna’s exclusive interview with ELI, where she opens up about the creative chaos behind “INSANE,” her creative process, and why obsession can be both dangerous and liberating.
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
ELI: I'm very cinematic when it comes to making music. Sometimes I even make music around visuals, so I think visually, when I start making a song, I think about the concept that's going to be in a music video. My solo work is deeply personal, very intimate, I would say, a bit of emo leaning, also a bit of chaos, something raw, strange and magnetic at the same time. Most of my music videos are pretty much dark. If you go back to my old stuff, this is all pretty much emo and dark. I'm very much inspired cinematically, and it's more like a cinematic sound for me.
LUNA: What kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for your listeners?
ELI: It really depends on the songs that I make. Recently, I've been working with producer Troy Noka, and it was more experimental hip-hop trap, but as I said before, I lean more into emo and dark.
LUNA: You just released your newest single “INSANE” and I love how it continues to push genre boundaries within your sound. What is the inspiration behind the single and what themes or emotions do you explore?
ELI: “INSANE” is about obsession. Some would think it's about obsession over a person. I would say it's about obsession about anything in general, but in the video, I am showing how far desire can really take you. It's actually funny, because my next release is called “Crazy.” It almost feels like I'm building this little universe where every song is another side of the same wild emotional spiral. It’s always about rumination, spiraling and just overthinking everything and being obsessed and impulsive, crazy loving.
LUNA: What was the creative process like working with TROY NōKA and Angel Haze in shaping the track’s sound and vision?
ELI: I usually start a song in my bedroom, and then I take the project to the studio and build it from there. So technically, I already have a project, and then I just build and add sounds around it. Troy really helps me explore the sound further. I think he breaks my boundaries a bit. Angel Haze came up during the last stage. It was mostly finalizing the track. She makes me go crazy in the studio. I never screamed on the track, but on the previous track another day, which was my first ever rock track, she made me scream. I had to learn how to scream in the mic, because I never did that before. It took me three hours to get a proper scream out of me. It’s about pushing boundaries with people I work with.
LUNA: Your style and aesthetic are as much a part of your storytelling as the music itself. “INSANE” is accompanied by a music video. What story were you hoping to tell and what was your experience filming it?
ELI: I wanted to work on something that would look like old documentaries about stalkers, or old 80s or 90s movies about stalkers. So there is a van, there is a person stalking someone in the house. But eventually it turns out, in the end of the video, that the person I was stalking actually stalked me for a while, and she was the creepy one. I wasn’t the creepy one. I think for this one, this is the darkest music video I've worked on so far.
LUNA: What is the ideal environment to experience your music? Is there a particular setting, mood, or time of day that enhances the listening experience?
ELI: When you put my track on, it creates a cinematic world that transports you anywhere.
LUNA: What’s fueling your fire right now, either musically or personally?
ELI: I work nonstop. I keep going. I wake up, I go, go, go. I work in fashion. I also work in art, multiple positions — creative, direction, casting and modeling. I have a talent agency. I represent actors, musicians, and then I work at PR. So I think everything inspires me in different industries — like fashion, media and acting, I love making things happen and I love working. I'm obsessed with working and creating things, and whatever creative outlet it is, I would be down to do it.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would love to share with Luna?
ELI: I actually started working on my new album, which is going to be out next year, hopefully at the beginning of next year. As I mentioned before, my solo project feels a lot more personal and intimate, dark and a little emo. I've got two more singles this year on the way. I'm multitasking right now. Next year is going to be pretty big for me. We're planning to play some festivals, and I'm planning to go on tour after I release my album. There’s also so much happening around the band, because we're going to play for some brands during Fashion Week.
