Song Deconstructed: ‘Dolores’ by Eleni Drake

Eleni Drake: “The whole song is basically me talking to myself
Q2: There’s this constant little strum running under everything – almost like a nervous tick, or a clock ticking down.”

Though taking its inspiration from a character in Westworld, this honest piece of writing both asks questions and takes accountability

Eleni Drake is a British-Greek singer, songwriter, and producer whose music traces a quiet emotional intensity – equal parts warmth and weight. Working in the tradition of artists like Adrianne Lenker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Mazzy Star, her sound is intimate and unvarnished, often built around soft guitar lines and lyrics that confront vulnerability with unflinching honesty. Having risen as a completely self-produced, self-released artist, Eleni has already garnered over 40 million streams and brought her live set to The Great Escape and SXSW.

With her new single Dolores, Eleni deepens her exploration of transformation and emotional reckoning. Inspired by the Westworld character of the same name, the track navigates the tension between perception and reality, and the personal accountability that comes with it. In this feature, Eleni invites us into the heart of Dolores – tracing its conceptual roots and the creative process that brought the song to life…

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INSPIRATION

Dolores actually means sorrow/pain. I wanted to name the song after the character from Westworld. Dolores begins as an innocent creation, but awakens to the harrowing truth of her existence. In her transformation, she becomes both the question and the answer, a symbol of the struggle for autonomy and the fragility of reality itself. It’s really about questioning if someone is how they present themselves, and realising they are not, and it is also about taking accountability in the demise of a relationship. I too make mistakes, often find myself at a crossroads, and trying to find the “right way” but get it wrong.

LYRICS

Lyrically, the whole thing’s like a snapshot – fast, fleeting, messy. I kept the sentences clipped on purpose. Felt like the right way to mirror how short-lived the romance was – just image after image, like flipping through old polaroids and realising they’ve all faded weird.
Then that chorus – it’s like a looped thought you can’t shake. It keeps circling back, echoing harder each time. That’s where the bridge came in. I wanted to stretch the moment, zoom in. The whole song is basically me talking to myself, replaying it all: the good bits, the blurry bits, the bits I wish I could un-feel. It starts soft, kind of meandering, like, “wait… maybe I got it all wrong?” But by the end, it’s clear – I wasn’t wrong, just holding onto something that didn’t fit right.

MUSIC

Musically, the verse and chorus sit pretty close – same kind of major progression, same emotional terrain. That was intentional. I wanted it to feel smooth, like something predictable, something trying to stay sweet. But then the post-chorus instrumental hits and everything shifts. That’s where the denial cracks.

The bass steps in with weight, finally. The piano starts pulling more focus – the nylon guitar, descending slow, like it’s lowering the mood without announcing it too loud. It’s still major, but there’s tension creeping in, like it’s smiling through gritted teeth. There’s this quiet strum running underneath the whole thing, too – a kind of heartbeat. Subtle intensity. By the time the bridge hits, it’s like the song wakes up. The conversation turns. The production and the lyrics sync up in that moment of clarity – not angry, just honest. It was never right.

Eleni Drake: “I’m playing this in DADF♯AD…That tuning gave the whole thing this open, ringing kind of tension.”

IN THE STUDIO

I’m playing this in DADF♯AD with my little nylon guitar (funnily enough we ended up choosing the first and only take of this in demo form). That tuning gave the whole thing this open, ringing kind of tension. It’s major, but there’s space between the notes that lets everything feel a little exposed. That matched the story – things felt good on the surface, but underneath, it wasn’t sitting right.

There’s this constant little strum running under everything – almost like a nervous tick, or a clock ticking down. It doesn’t draw attention to itself, but it’s always there, which kind of mirrors the way the song plays out. Chris comes in on bass and just anchors it. Nothing crazy, but intense, and thought out. He adds this weight that almost sneaks up on you. And Sean’s on this totally beat up, out-of-tune upright piano. The sound was perfect for it. The wobble and grit in the tone made the whole thing feel a little warped.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This song leans more into that classic singer-songwriter territory, definitely rooted in the folk world. Nothing experimental, no boundary-pushing for the sake of it. Just honest playing, honest writing. That’s what it needed to be – something cathartic, something that tells the truth without dressing it up too much.

Dolores is out now via MNRK and you can listen to it at elenidrakemnrk.lnk.to/dolores and for Eleni Drake’s 2025 tour dates, follow @elenidrake on Instagram

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