Elise Trouw Turns Toxic Masculinity Into Performance Art on “All You Need Is Lust”

Elise Trouw’s All You Need Is Lust isn’t your typical feminist anthem. It’s smarter, darker, and far more self-aware. Known for her one-woman-band wizardry and pristine pop-jazz finesse, Trouw completely rewires her image here. She’s no longer chasing the high of perfection. She’s burning it down with irony, discomfort, and an acid smile.

This is the first single from her upcoming project, The Diary of Elon Lust, where she channels a fictional male persona stitched together from real things men have said to her and other women. It’s part satire, part therapy, and part cultural autopsy. Through “Elon,” Trouw doesn’t just mock modern masculinity; she weaponizes it. The track flips The Beatles’ All You Need Is Love into a twisted mantra of ego and desire, fusing warped synths, pulsing basslines, and vocals that drip with both seduction and disgust.

Sonically, it’s chaos done right. Imagine St. Vincent and Nine Inch Nails headlining a haunted disco. The production oozes tension and purpose, with Trouw’s drumming grounding the madness in something unmistakably human. Every instrument is placed like a provocation. Her layering builds a world that feels disturbingly familiar: shiny, curated, and emotionally vacant.

The self-directed video pushes that vision even further. Cherry-headed dancers, exaggerated body parts, and Bosch-inspired surrealism collide in a bizarre carnival of lust and absurdity. It’s grotesque, hilarious, and strangely hypnotic, like a satire born inside the algorithm’s fever dream.

What makes this new era of Elise Trouw so magnetic is that she’s no longer performing to please. She’s performing to challenge. All You Need Is Lust isn’t just a song about gender or desire; it’s a performance piece that forces reflection on how easily art, love, and identity get twisted by power.

With this release, Elise Trouw proves she’s not just pushing boundaries. She’s dismantling the frame entirely.

What sparked the idea to create a fictional alter ego like "Elon Lust"?

These songs started as a fun outlet for me to process and make light of my experiences with everyday misogyny. I wouldn't have called it that at the time, though. I'd just hear guys say the most absurd things, and think "that should be a song." So I'd write it on guitar, play it for my friends, and laugh about it. Eventually, there were enough of them that they started to sound like a cohesive project. Even though they were inspired by many different people, the voice felt consistent. I realized that "voice" was the male gaze I had internalized. So I brought it to life in the form of Elon Lust. 

Were there any specific real-life encounters that inspired lines or lyrics from the record?

Many of the song titles are actually direct quotes! If it's alright for someone to say "I like my women shaved" to me, then why can't I sing it back in a song? These moments stuck with me because they were said so casually. It's the sexism-lite we're all supposed to ignore. Elon Lust is my way of redirecting those experiences into art.

The visuals are wild. What's the story behind the Bosch-inspired imagery?

When I was brainstorming the concept for "All You Need Is Lust," I stumbled across the painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. I was instantly obsessed. It captured that same feeling of controlled chaos that I wanted to convey in the video. The shared theme of lust felt obvious, but what drew me in most was the sheer density of the painting. I looked at it for hours, finding little sparks of inspiration, mainly from the panel depicting Earth. That's where the giant berry and cherry-headed dancers come from. 

How did you approach balancing satire with genuine emotion on this project?

My goal for this project was to lead with humor. On the surface, the lyrics are absurd, funny, and almost simple to the point of feeling like a slap in the face. Even as I was writing, I'd ask myself not "Is this a good lyric?" but rather "would Elon Lust say this?" By leaning fully into his voice-- which I'd describe as cheeky, un-self-aware, overly confident, and at times elementary. I let my own experience live between the lines. I wanted to put the listener in my shoes in the most literal way possible. Some people will only hear the crassness and humor, and that's okay. But for those who go a little deeper, the album paints a picture of what it feels like to be a woman in the world right now. 

After years of polished pop-jazz work, what creative freedom did this new era unlock for you?

For the first half of creating this project, I never actually planned to release it. And when I finally decided to do it, I planned to do it anonymously. It wasn't until the record was finished that I chose to release it under my own name. That sense of privacy gave me the freedom to be completely uncensored throughout the process. Even in the production, that mindset dropped any pressure I felt to cater to what I'd become known for musically. The album moves through an array of genres, but it all stays connected by the themes and through Elon Lust's voice.