Swirling and twirling sounds satisfy the ears
The Canadian band, Elephant Stone, welcomes 2024 with a new psychedelic pop/rock album called Back Into The Dream. The ten-track album is chock full of elements from many different genres. The instrumentation is unlike many bands and stands alone amongst the crowd. The folk, pop, and rock influences can be identified while listening to this album.
Elephant Stone kicks off the album with “Lost In A Dream,” a thrilling introduction with dreamy chords, heavy chorus effects, synthetic solos, and its fair share of phasers. This song is upbeat with soft vocals. The psychedelic-ness is very present and is demonstrated by a quick, swirling guitar solo halfway through the song. Many of the songs on this album showcase some sort of solo, whether it be guitar or synthesizer. A crunchy guitar solo paired with fast-paced drums can be heard in the track “Going Underground.”
The percussion in this album is very interesting. Elephant Stone uses unusual percussive instruments like bongos. “The Spark,” a soft and acoustic song, holds properties of this psycho-pop and introduces the listener to a variety of percussion. The use of different instruments reminds the listener that they should be hearing every part of the song and brings the focus back from mindless listening. This album can be played as background noise but the small moments like this stand out.
Something interesting about Back Into The Dream is the way the songs are set out. There are two instrumental tracks in the middle of the album; “Bae” and “Godstar.” They are placed back to back, giving the album a strange flow. However, both tracks are a wonder to listen to and are independent of each other. “Bae” comes in with heavily affected vocals which eventually turn into swirling guitars and wondrous melodies played by other instruments. “Godstar” is based around an acoustic guitar with more instruments joining one by one. This gives the song a very dramatic and larger than life feel, joining many of the songs on this album.
One song to single out is “The Imajinary, Nameless Everybody In The World.” This seven-minute song takes the listener through a journey of beautiful harmonies, layered vocals, and transformations the listener does not see coming. The vocals are reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkle. This track is long but transforms halfway through from soft and acoustic to electric and fuzzy. The dramatic build-up at the end uses a saxophone, adding another dimension of sound.
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