‘Paradise in a Cage’ enjoys early success

By Sarah Slevin

Ellen Sleator’s debut single has amassed more than 4,000 listens on Spotify so far and has also debuted on Today FM. The 21-year-old from Mullingar has written, produced and sung on the single ‘Paradise in a Cage’, which has been making waves since its release just over two weeks ago.

Ellen has been writing music for as long as she can remember and was pleasantly surprised with the number of listeners on Spotify.

“It seems to be doing really well, I wasn’t expecting that. I had such a small aim at the start, saying if I could get over 1,000 (listens), we’re good,” Ellen said.

The song has also got its first radio play on Today FM, with Fergal Darcy, and Ellen said she was not the only one excited about it.

“I wasn’t sure if it was going to be radio because it is kind of alternative, not a typical radio song. It’s very cool for it to be played on radio, my mam was delighted with herself,” Ellen joked.

“It came on straight after an ad and there was no speaking, it started with just me singing, it was crazy,” she said.

Ellen has written a lot of songs, but she chose ‘Paradise in a Cage’ as her debut as she said it showed her the best.

“To choose a first single I wanted it to give a bit of me. There’s lots of meanings to it but overall, it’s about how your ego can stop you from doing things,” she said.

“There’s two meanings, the first is this feeling I have inside that I wanted to show my music and that part of me was this paradise that was trapped behind my ego, maybe not wanting people to know about it.”

The 21-year-old talent is also heavily inspired by nature and wrote the song in a walled garden in Dublin.

“I grew up in the country, so when I travel around, I like to find a bit of country to ground myself, and I wrote it in that little garden with people watching so that’s my little paradise in the cage of Dublin,” she said.

Ellen said her background in music developed through her involvement with musicals and acting growing up.

Now though, Ellen has just finished her first year studying at British and Irish Modern Music (BIMM) in Dublin, which is part of Europe’s largest, most connected music institute.

BIMM has alumni such as Fontaines D.C. and George Ezra and the school has helped Ellen broaden her songwriting in terms of producing her own music.

“I’ve written full songs before and put them on YouTube, but I’ve only recently learned that you can make your music yourself, you don’t need to go to studio or have loads of money.”

“Being around loads of people in BIMM has enhanced my music so much,” Ellen said.

Ellen is not sure what the future will bring but has been busy writing songs and will likely be releasing more in the next few months.

“I’m always working on music; it’ll be either an EP or a single in the next few months. I’ve so many songs I want to show off, so it’s just about picking the right one at the right time,” Ellen said.