London-based alternative duo Joel X Eleanor is a distinctive collaboration. Their most recent release, a double single release tilted “Garden Plot / Something Strange,” lean into differing ideas about love, creating an addictive push and pull. Beyond music, the two are passionate advocates for animals, contributing monthly donations to organizations like Cats Protection and Dogs Trust. To learn more about Joel X Eleanor and their new music, read on.

Where are you based?
Greenwich, South London.

What inspired you two to come together and start making music?
Eleanor: I’ve always wanted to make music, so when I met Joel and found out he knew how to play guitar, that was it! I had several false starts in my teens, then throughout higher education I didn’t really connect with anyone interested in music. When I moved to the UK I was out of a bad relationship and ready for a new start. I wanted to do music so bad I even auditioned for a wedding band! But then my cute coworker turned out to like the same bands as me (and more, he’s very eclectic!), and he could actually make music. I found out on one of our walks home, and immediately asked him to be my bandmate — I had rented an apartment right across the road from him without knowing he lived there. If that’s not fate, I don’t know what is!

You both were originally in a rock band called Sweet Anna from 2022 - 2025 until you made the transition into Joel X Eleanor. What made you decide to step away from this band?
We tried out eight different bandmates for Sweet Anna over those years and we couldn’t find anybody who was as invested in the project as us. That’s only natural because we were the ones writing and funding the music. Eventually we decided it just made more sense for us to rebrand as a duo, and it’s allowed us not to have to worry about a lot of things.

Who are your inspirations when it comes to music?
Joel: My biggest inspirations as a guitarist are The Wipers and The Gun Club. As a songwriter I appreciate original and interesting melody wherever I hear it. Probably Lennon & McCartney, Hall & Oates, Jeff Lynne, Kurt Cobain, John Fogerty and Thom Yorke are the melody writers I admire the most.

Eleanor: As a singer, I love people with big voices, like Bono, Mahalia Jackson, Baby Huey, and Tina Turner, and the powerful, almost shrill singing of Hungarian folk singers. As a child my favorite rock bands were U2, Bon Jovi, Marilyn Manson, Radiohead and Muse. I’d sing along to their songs all the time and write poetry, hoping to one day write actual songs. From the perspective of writing, my favorite poet is Attila József — I like to use vivid imagery and express strong emotions, and I think lyrics should be meaningful enough to pass as poetry. I also completely agree with Joel’s list above!

Congratulations on your recent double single release “Garden Plot / Something Strange”! Why did you decide to release them together?
It made sense because they’re both love songs about ourselves, and we often write songs about other people. They sound good next to each other because Garden Plot is clean and pretty, while Something Strange is noisy and chaotic, but then Garden Plot is darker in its theme of obsessive love, whereas Something Strange evokes the feeling of new lovers merging into one.

There’s a bit of a push and pull between the two singles regarding their angle on love. “Something Strange” is softer and more vulnerable while “Garden Plot” focuses on a darker and more obsessive version of love. What’s the story of how these songs came about?
The lyrics of Garden Plot were written by Eleanor, but the lyrics of Something Strange were written by Joel. These songs were written early on in our relationship, and they show what each of us was going through at the time. We’ve twisted the reality a bit for dramatic effect, of course.

There’s also something very distinctive and unique about the way you approached these two new tracks. How has collaborating through Joel X Eleanor differed from the music you produced during your time with Sweet Anna?
Our music with Sweet Anna was bogged down with compromise. We were desperate to keep our bandmates so we would avoid putting things in our music that they would find “uncool”, and we ended up pandering to a very macho toxic crowd that is unlike me and Eleanor at all. Now that we’re a duo, our music is so much more an expression of who we really are. We’re now just trying to bring joy to the friends we’ve made in the music scene, people who we think are sweet, honest, kind and genuine. If you’re that kind of person, you’ll probably love our music.

What do you hope listeners take away from your music?
We want our songs to stay with our listeners. We want our music to be important to our listeners long after we’re gone.

You donate monthly to organizations like Cats Protection, Dogs Trust, RSPCA, SSPCA, and the Buttercups Goat Sanctuary. You also donate to Pasadena Humane a few times a year. Can you tell us a little bit about some of these organizations and their missions? Why is animal welfare such an important cause to you?
We love animals because we have a lot in common with them and we find it easier to communicate with them than with most people. Animals are so vulnerable to aggressive humans because they don’t understand them. Eleanor’s childhood dog, a red-nosed pitbull, was rescued from a criminal gang who were likely forcing him to fight against his will. When Joel was a kid in Malaysia, he took care of a feral cat who struggled to express love without also being violent, who was eventually killed by a pack of non-stray dogs. These experiences have shaped us.

We started donating to Pasadena Humane in the wake of the Eaton Fire, when we found out what an amazing job they were doing, rescuing severely injured animals and helping them return to a normal life. We want to be there for as many cats, dogs, and goats as we can.

With your previous band you played fundraising gigs in support of the Alzheimer's Society. Can you tell us more about this organization and why you got involved?
To be honest, that was our first show that wasn’t an open mic, and it was mainly because the organizer was willing to accept bands with no gigging experience! It’s extremely difficult for bands to get started because there are very few promoters and venues who are willing to take on bands that haven’t played any shows.

Someone in Joel’s family was also diagnosed with dementia, so there was a personal link, and since Joel works for a charity, he did his part to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Society in his own office in the lead up to our first gig.

What do you hope to see for the future of the music industry regarding representation?
We’d like to see more women in rock music, treated the same as the blokes, not held to different standards or expectations about how they look. Even women-focused festival line-ups clearly prefer certain archetypes. You know what archetypes we mean — hyper girly or mean bitch. A woman can’t simply be herself and be respected for her music, like Dave Grohl gets to be in his flannel.

What advice do you have for young individuals with autism who want to pursue a career in the music industry?
Stay motivated and don’t burn out. We’ve met too many autistic and ADHD people in the creative industry who burn out. Believe us, we know what it feels like to be so driven and stressed out whenever we’re not working. But that tight feeling in your chest might not be your drive, it might just be hunger! Write down a list of all the tasks you already did today — can you now see just how much you’ve been able to do in a single day? Go get something to eat! WORK CONSISTENTLY, NOT CONSTANTLY.

Are there any upcoming projects you are currently working on that we should be on the lookout for?
We are working on an album which will be released in the summer (planned for July). The production and songwriting on this album is a big evolution from Garden Plot. You’re going to love it.

It has been a crazy few years, and we expect at least three more. How have you been staying positive?
Birdwatching, hiking, getting ice cream — anything calming that we can do together that’s not inside the house, that’s not related to music.

What is your motto in life?
Our old drummer used to mock us by calling us Bill and Ted. What’s wrong with Bill and Ted? Our motto is “Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes”.

To learn more about Joel X Eleanor, please check out the links below:
To reach us:

Website: https://joelxeleanor.com/home

Bandcamp: https://joelxeleanor.bandcamp.com/

TikTok: @joelxeleanor

YouTube: @joelxeleanor

Instagram: @joelxeleanor

To reach charities:

Pasadena Humane

Buttercups Goat Sanctuary

Alzheimer's Society

National Autistic Society

We’re conscious most of these are UK-based charities, and we can’t possibly list them all. Look around, there might be amazing charities in your community, working in service of causes that are important to you!

Joel X Eleanor on Addictive Anthems & Animal Advocacy