photo credit: Jacq Justice

Rising indie-rock star meg elsier makes a powerful return with her new single “sportscar [scrapped],” the lead single from the deluxe edition of her acclaimed debut album spittake, out July 25th via Bright Antenna Records.

A sleek, emotionally charged indie-pop track with alt-rock undercurrents, “sportscar [scrapped]” fuses crisp guitar textures, shimmering synths, and a driving rhythm. The song unfolds from quiet introspection into a soaring, energetic chorus, mirroring the emotional acceleration alluded to in its title. Hook-laden, heartfelt, and tailor-made for late-night drives, “sportscar [scrapped]” captures the weight of growing pains with poetic clarity.

“‘sportscar’ is a really interesting addition to the deluxe, specifically because ‘spittake’ almost had a completely different identity,” meg reveals. “There was a time when I was playing with the idea of naming the album Check Engine Light On. The influence of cars and how they move you through life is something I didn’t realize was so important to ‘spittake’ until after I’d written it.”

“sportscar [scrapped]” feels like a late-night spiral in slow motion — shiny on the outside, but leaking smoke and secrets. When did you first realize that your car (and life) were basically the same thing?

OMG, I love “leaking smoke and secrets”! I would realize, get distracted, and then forget whether or not I’d fixed the small problem. But writing “sportscar” was the real mirror moment when I started really feeling this connection with her (my car). I found myself having a new problem every day with my car that I didn’t know how to fix, like I literally didn’t know what half the symbols meant. Like, my AC IS BROKEN and I have a COOLANT issue??? Not for me, babe. Not for me!

You almost named the album Check Engine Light On. What made you pivot to spittake — and how do both titles live in tension with each other?

I think they both are great names in the sense that they blanket everything in a nice way. Both spittake and check engine light on are kind of in every song, whether the lyrics say it or not. I think spittake really just represents everything I’m saying in that title track. More of this cynical sad yet comical moment of realization of the joke of an existence I have. I feel more connected to it because it has a sense of self-awareness—and I don’t want to say defeat, but something along those lines. It’s a cruel joke, and I know I can’t do anything about it. There is an eerie calmness that comes with spittake. Whereas check engine light on is more on the precipice of coming to that conclusion. Everything is falling apart and I kind of know why, but I have NO idea what is in store.


There’s something beautiful about how you romanticize burnout. Were you trying to glamorize the wreckage, or just finally put it under a microscope?

I think the most common, mundane things are the most beautiful of them all. I worry this will come across wrong but, in my opinion, there’s nothing more human than failing. Nothing more human than having things fuck you up and not go your way. Nothing more human than getting yourself into a hole and trying to climb out. I think that’s so fucking beautiful! I don’t think I try to glamorize the wreckage per se, but I think there is something alluring and exciting about everything burning to the ground. Flames still create heat and light, but are also disastrous and violent. It’s everything all at once.

The live visual for “sportscar” reimagines what a performance can be — it’s raw, theatrical, and a little camp. What’s your beef with realism? And why is fantasy the more honest choice right now?

I love this!! What is my beef with realism? I think maybe I find things too hard to deal with without a little inexplicable factor. Life’s too hard and I have to dress it up. I also really love science fiction and fantasy, and I’ve learned the most about being a person, a woman and a human from these stories that don’t take place on this earth. Take away the things familiar to me and just leave me with the heart and emotions. I can see it and feel it more when the backdrop feels like a dream or just feels slightly off. No matter where we are or what’s going on, things can remain familiar.

You’ve said this deluxe version of spittake pulls back the curtain — demos, live takes, emotional outtakes. Was it scary to show the scaffolding? Or did you find freedom in the mess?

Everything makes me want to puke, because for some reason that’s what my body does when I’m nervous…but I think it truly is a blend of both. I don’t think you would find the freedom in it if it wasn’t so scary. All I want to do is share more of myself and more of what I think people connected with on spittake in the first place. I’m so lucky to be able to share this and to get the opportunity for more understanding. Not everyone gets that in life.
Let’s talk hair dye and car washes. How did the rituals of getting ready — the external upgrades — help you survive the emotional breakdown underneath it all?

I think it was a lot easier to reinvent myself and never look back than to grow. A new persona, new character, new clothing, new music taste, new way of talking, new way I hold myself…it really distracts from that breakdown. It polishes it up. It makes it easier to ignore what’s actually going on. And, to be honest, I don’t think it’s a bad thing all the time. I think that creativity and imagination and ability to chameleon is something that has saved me, but also makes it really hard to have the centered self and to know who you are. Now though, I’m growing with reinvention, not just deleting everything that came before. I think she deserves a place and respect now, since I don’t think I ever gave that side of me respect when I was living it. That doesn’t make sense but it’s how I feel, and maybe it does.

There’s a fascinating friction in your sound — honeyed vocals floating over gritty, almost shoegaze-y production. How much of that is intentional, and how much is just your brain’s natural chaos-to-glory ratio?

I think it’s VERY intentional. But the intention was to make it reflect who I am and how I was feeling. And I feel delicate and gritty and swampy and manic. I think in my personal life I wanted to show people one side, curate myself to how they would like me the best, and in the music I really wanted to avoid that. Or I just wanted to intentionally not think about it so much, you know? Pleasing others and getting feedback (whether you want it or not) is something that will always be in life so there’s no avoiding it. But there is a way for me to show up in a more honest way. And I think by blending everything versus picking a lane and sticking to it, the music felt the most real and true to me.

You’ve toured with Blondshell and now Liz Cooper. How have those shared stages reshaped your own sense of performance and presence?

I have thus far toured with exclusively women-fronted bands. I learned and was guided into the world of touring through women. I owe so much to Macie & Sima (of Finom), Sabrina (Blondshell), and Liz. They make a safe environment around them for women but also for someone like me to learn by example and get inspired every night.

Seeing these artists perform and seeing so many women highlighted in music is just the most inspiring act. It makes me want to give it my all. It makes me realize how lucky we are to get a microphone. To get people to listen. And I will take every moment I get and have as much fun as I can.

If spittake is a coming-of-age story told in speeding tickets and breakdowns, what’s the next chapter? What kind of vehicle are you driving now — metaphorically or otherwise?


YOUR GIRL HAS STOPPED PAYING HER CAR INSURANCE AND IS MOVING TO A CITY WITH PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!!!!!!!!!!

Vinyl is on the way. If someone drops the needle on side A with no context, what do you hope they feel in their chest before the first word even hits?

I want there to be the feeling of melting into someone’s brain and world and dreams and head. Kind of like in Monkeybone, that really weird Tim Burton movie with Brendan Frasier that I haven’t seen since I was a child and don’t really remember, but there is a scene when he sinks down and down and down into a hospital bed and ends up in hell or a new world. (I really forgot this movie…I actually don’t even trust that this is a real scene anymore.) But yeah, I hope they don’t know why but they get that gut feeling of getting into someone else’s headspace.