Eleri Ward Previews Debut Album Live

Summary

All Of It Podcast Episode Summary

Title: Eleri Ward Previews Debut Album Live
Host: Alison Stewart
Release Date: July 1, 2025
Guest: Ellery Ward, Actor and Singer-Songwriter
Album Discussed: Internal Rituals (Release Date: September 26th)

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Introduction to Ellery Ward and Internal Rituals

Alison Stewart opens the episode by introducing Ellery Ward, highlighting her new debut album Internal Rituals. Ward, a Chicago-raised artist based in New York, is transitioning from her previous work featuring acoustic covers of Stephen Sondheim's music to her first full-length project of original songs. The album explores a diverse range of genres, including pop and jazz, and delves into themes such as karma, gratitude, self-love, confidence, and astrology.

Notable Quote:
“Ellery, welcome to all of it.” — [00:00]

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The Concept of Rituals in Songwriting

Ward explains that each of the 12 tracks on Internal Rituals represents a personal ritual. She emphasizes the introspective and private nature of her songwriting process, describing it as a spiritual ritual that facilitates her personal growth.

Notable Quote:
“The process is the ritual. I think it's a really spiritual thing to process your life through song, and that's what this album really encapsulates.” — [00:45]

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Live Performance: "Stepping Through"

Ward performs the first track, "Stepping Through," setting the album's tone of transformation and uncertainty. The song narrates the journey of becoming a new version of oneself and the fears associated with that change.

Performance Excerpt:
“Now I'm stepping through the bend Trying to catch myself I lean to the left again but maybe this is where I fall...” — [02:42]

Host's Reaction:
“That was gorgeous, by the way.” — [05:25]

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Ellery's Prized Guitar and Its Significance

The conversation shifts to Ward's beloved guitar, which she considers one of her prized possessions. She recounts purchasing it spontaneously at Midtown Guitar Center, feeling an immediate connection that compelled her to buy it despite the high cost.

Notable Quote:
“I just knew I was sitting in that room playing it. I had to buy it, and I'm glad I did.” — [05:46]

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Songwriting Journey and Discoveries

Alison Stewart asks Ward about her evolution from performing Sondheim covers to creating her own music. Ward shares that writing her own songs taught her that songwriting is a flexible process driven by emotion rather than strict structures. This revelation allowed her to embrace unconventional song structures, focusing more on feeling than on rigid composition.

Notable Quote:
“I let it be less about thinking, more about feeling. And the songs spoke to me, and then I was just the vessel.” — [06:28]

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Storytelling Through Music

Ward firmly identifies herself as a storyteller, using her songs to narrate her personal journey of self-transformation. She describes the nonlinear and complex nature of personal growth, highlighting themes of curiosity and discovery throughout the album.

Notable Quote:
“Majorly a story of self transformation and how nonlinear that experience is.” — [07:17]

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Transitioning from Sondheim to Original Work

Ward discusses the challenges of shifting from being the interpreter of Sondheim's work to creating her own stories. She reflects on the internal upheaval and growth that accompanied this transition, emphasizing the departure from using genre as a storytelling tool to living within her own genre to express her narrative.

Notable Quote:
“I'm living in the genre of my home base to tell my own story. And there comes a little bit of a transitional period.” — [08:08]

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Live Performance: "Someone Something New"

Ward performs "Someone Something New," a song that delves into her personal struggles with past relationships and self-forgiveness. The song captures the essence of recalibrating one's relationship with the past and moving forward.

Performance Excerpt:
“What about that Christmas morning little girl now left behind me or not Here I am a woman crying wondering why I am not moving...” — [09:59]

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Balancing Acting and Music

As an actor, Ward shares how her performance skills complement her musical endeavors. She believes that both disciplines are intrinsically connected through their shared emphasis on storytelling and emotional expression. Ward aspires to fully embody the stories she tells, whether on stage or through her music.

Notable Quote:
“I want to embody that fully.” — [14:43]

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Favorite Songs to Perform and Their Significance

When asked about her favorite songs to perform from the album, Ward highlights two tracks: the next song following "Someone Something New" and "Venusian Light." These songs resonate with her as they encapsulate the themes of being present, trusting the journey, and embracing one's true self.

Notable Quote:
“They really touch on that feeling of let go, you are you. It is all okay. You are safe to be you.” — [15:37]

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Live Performance: "Float"

In her final performance, Ward presents the song "Float," which evokes a sense of surrender and weightlessness. The lyrics reflect a desire to let go and trust the natural flow of life.

Performance Excerpt:
“What if I just fell into the pool? Open arms, a doubtless daft blue... I float, float, float.” — [16:57]

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Closing Remarks

Alison Stewart wraps up the conversation, reiterating the release date of Internal Rituals and expressing appreciation for Ward's appearance and performances. Ward reciprocates the gratitude, highlighting the pleasure of sharing her work.

Notable Quote:
“It has been a pleasure to speak with you.” — [20:23]

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This episode of All Of It offers an intimate glimpse into Ellery Ward's artistic journey, showcasing her evolution from interpreting classic covers to crafting deeply personal original music. Through live performances and thoughtful discussion, Ward articulates the essence of her album Internal Rituals, inviting listeners to engage with the transformative rituals that define her work.

Transcript

[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Ellery Ward is ready to release an album. It's titled Internal Rituals. It's the Chicago raised New York based artist's first full length project of original songs. Some of you might remember, Ellery's last few releases have featured acoustic covers of Sondheim's music. On her new album, you'll hear a bit of everything from pop to jazz. It covers karma, gratitude, self love, confidence, and even astrology. With me now is Ellery Ward, here for a special live performance and to talk about the new called Internal Rituals, which is out September 26th. Ellery, welcome to all of it.

[Ellery Ward]

Thank you so much for having me. I'm really, really happy to be here.

[Alison Stewart]

You said on your Instagram each of these 12 tracks are rituals.

[Ellery Ward]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

How did Rituals help you discover your voice as an artist?

[Ellery Ward]

I think the biggest way I can explain it is the internal aspect of it. The fact that songwriting and music and introspection for me happen in this very private space. And songwriting helps me really access the breadth of what I'm experiencing and what I'm ultimately feeling and what the outcome is, my own growth, essentially. And to me, that process is the ritual. I think it's a really spiritual thing to process your life through song, and that's what this album really encapsulates.

[Alison Stewart]

The first song you're gonna perform is called Stepping Through. What It's About. What is it about?

[Ellery Ward]

It's the first track on the album, so it definitely sets the tone of walking into a portal, a portal of I feel I am becoming a new version of myself. And I have no idea where this is going to lead me. I have no idea who is on the other side. But here we go.

[Alison Stewart]

Here's Ellery Ward.

[Ellery Ward]

Now I'm stepping through the bend Trying to catch myself I lean to the left again but maybe this is where I fall Gravity's the only thing that gets me Me at all I'm scared of my fragility if I hit the ground what will become of me? All the broken pieces put together Making something unfamiliar Am I really who I thought that I would be? Now I'm stepping through myself but was it really me or just a concept for someone else? No, I'm on the other side all the expectations broken from me Crossing the line it's not about approval no not taking any questions I Something that you're losing Cause that something died Am I really who you thought that I would be? Sam Now I'm stepping through the bend Now I'm stepping through the day.

Now.

I'm stepping through myself.

Now I'm stepping.

[Alison Stewart]

Through that was Ellery Ward seeing Stepping Through. That was gorgeous, by the way.

[Ellery Ward]

Thank you so much.

[Alison Stewart]

So is your guitar.

[Ellery Ward]

Thank you. She's. She's one of my prized possessions. I love this guitar so much.

[Alison Stewart]

Do you remember where you were when you got it?

[Ellery Ward]

It's gorgeous. I was at the Midtown Guitar Center. I actually didn't even plan on buy. I just went to check it out because I was looking at stuff online, and I wanted to play things before I purchased. And, you know, it's a big purchase, but I just knew I was sitting in that room playing it. I had to buy it, and I'm glad I did.

[Alison Stewart]

So when you were writing your songs for your new record, what was something that you discovered about writing songs?

[Ellery Ward]

Because you.

[Alison Stewart]

Initially, people came to know you because of your Stephen Sondheim covers. But what is something valuable about songwriting that you learned writing this record?

[Ellery Ward]

Yeah, I think the most valuable thing I learned about songwriting through the process of this album, really, was that it can be whatever you want it to be. You are the orchestrator and the creator, and the song will tell you what it wants to be. You don't have to place this idea of what it should be or should sound like or what a song structure is. So a lot of the structures of these songs are a little strange. Like, I don't even know what the structure of that song that I just played really is. And in that way, I let it be less about thinking, more about feeling. And the songs spoke to me, and then I was just the vessel. I was just the messenger.

[Alison Stewart]

A lot of people talk about songwriting as storytelling. Are you in that category?

[Ellery Ward]

1,000%, yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

What stories did you want to tell on this album?

[Ellery Ward]

Majorly a story of self transformation and how nonlinear that experience is. And I think when you are entering a new version of becoming and who you are, you see the world around you differently. You interact with your own memories differently, with past versions of yourself differently, other people's behavior in a new way. So a lot of the storytelling in this album is just a lot of curiosity and discovery.

[Alison Stewart]

That's interesting because it reminds me of this quote that you brought up, saying that your Sondheim era of your life brought a lot of transition, but also internal upheaval. What was going on?

[Ellery Ward]

Well, I mean, when you have a certain level of success being the vessel for someone else's work, and you are an interpreter, and then you go through this great schism in your own life, to jump across that gap into your own, interpreting your own stories. There are growing pains there. And also, like, I really used the acoustic indie folk dressing of the acoustic Sondheim work as a filter or a means to interpret that music. I really write a ethereal pop music, which is very different than that. And so instead of using a genre to tell a story, I'm, like, living in the genre of my home base to tell my own story. And there comes a little bit of a transitional. What is that period?

[Alison Stewart]

So, yeah, My guest is actor and singer songwriter Ellery Ward. Her new album is titled Internal Rituals. She's here to give us a preview and to perform live. Let's hear another song. This one is someone something New. Tell us a little bit about it.

[Ellery Ward]

Yeah, well, speaking of interacting with your own life and memories a little differently when you become a different version of yourself, this is very much that experience, and it's in a very base way, it's about my daddy issues, but it's. For anyone who is recalibrating and changing their relationship with their past, here's Ellery.

[Alison Stewart]

Ward.

[Ellery Ward]

In the present.

I'm not thinking.

What about that Christmas morning little girl now left behind me or not Here I am a woman crying wondering why I am not moving he is the reason he's the ending he walked but no, it was you it is always, always you I try to forget oh, but then you're begging someone something new if you were erased.

[Alison Stewart]

Completely.

[Ellery Ward]

I don't think I'd have these feelings I would be unshaken and free from you Playing out these roles to solve things it's so subconscious you surprise me Showing up in my other scenes I miss my cue, you see it was you it is always, always you I try to forget oh, but then you're back in someone something new.

I.

Thought I had it all figured out I thought I let all the memories drown but deep in the water way, way down I not to notice but I hear that sound he calls my name but he has your voice he calls my name but I hear your voice he calls my name but I know your voice he calls my name but I know it's your voice I know it was you it is always, always you I try to forget Then you're back in someone something new Here was you it is always, always you But I will forget oh, that you won't be back again it's tr. It's true, it's true in the present I'm not thinking.

[Alison Stewart]

That'S Ellery Ward her new album is Internal Rituals. You're an actor.

[Ellery Ward]

I am as well.

[Alison Stewart]

You starred as Jordan Baker and Florence Welch's Gatsby at the American Repertory Theater.

[Ellery Ward]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

What do you use from your acting life and your singing life when you perform?

[Ellery Ward]

Oh, they are so intrinsically connected. I think the way I look at my emotional world is very tethered to my interpretive lens and to my emotional lens and just the accessibility of my emotions. And like we were talking about earlier, like, the storytelling aspect of it is at the root of everything that I do, whether it be being in a musical or singing one of my own songs. It's a story that I'm telling, and if I'm the performer, then I want to embody that fully.

[Alison Stewart]

What song on the new album are you looking forward to performing?

[Ellery Ward]

I mean, I don't know. I love all of them so much, and they all feel so cathartic for me to perform. I think this next song is one of them because it's just. It brings me back into what. What it's really all about, which is just like being present with yourself and allowing yourself to trust the journey. Trusting is so hard for us as humans. We love control. We love, like, white knuckling through things to feel safe. But I think this song and the last song on the album, which is Venusian Light, are two favorites to perform because they really touch on that feeling of let go, you are you. It is all okay. You are safe to be you. And I think that safety is a really beautiful thing to be able to express.

[Alison Stewart]

The name of the album is Internal Rituals. It is forthcoming this fall. I've been speaking with actor and singer songwriter Ellery Wards. You're gonna play float for us?

[Ellery Ward]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's hear.

[Ellery Ward]

What if I just fell into the pool? Open arms, a doubtless daft blue.

And.

When I hit the water I don't have to swim at all what if I just fell right into you and flow, flow out maybe I could be just where I am Held by water Weightless as the air Nowhere that I have to be so let my mind please stay with me maybe I could feel like this again and flow, flow I don't have to move just flow what if, what if I what if, what if I just. What if I What if I just fell into the po. Open arms are downhill to blue.

And.

As I hit the water top I don't have to swim at all now that I just fell right into you I float, float, float Flo.

[Alison Stewart]

I've been speaking with singer songwriter Ellery Ward. Her album Internal rituals is out September 26th. It has been a pleasure to speak with you.

[Ellery Ward]

Same here. Thank you so much for having me.

[Alison Stewart]

There's more. All of it coming up after the news.

[Ellery Ward]

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