Elephant - III

For the past four years, with two albums and an EP under their belt, Rotterdam’s Elephant (Frank Schalkwijk, Michael Broekhuizen, Bas Vosselman and Kaj van Driel) have been the band I’ve returned to more than any other.  Like its predecessor, album number three (simply titled III) has everything that makes them sound like Elephant, but also finds them experimenting, which keeps things fresh and ever evolving.  While lyrically it’s a bit darker than most of their previous songs, the sunshine pop of opening cut (and first single) “For A Friend,” with its lazy groove and hooky chorus, brings to mind their earlier work.  When it was released as their second single, “20 K” took me completely by surprise.  You can still hear elements of their sound, but with its electro hip-hop beat, vocoder and noisier guitars, they have created an absolutely hypnotic track that’s unlike anything they’ve released before.  “You Wanted The Same” is melancholy dream pop with fantastic vocal interplay between Frank and labelmate Sofie Winterson.  She also appears on their unexpected cover of Blink 182’s “Always,” which finds them taking the core of the original with its upbeat bounce and making it all their own.  At just over six minutes, “Trust Me I Feel It Too” is a cool, laid-back cut that will have you gently swaying back and forth and has some really interesting guitar work that at times gives it a disoriented, almost dizzying, effect and also has a a long instrumental ending with some subtle “Joe Meek-like” space sounds.  Juxtaposed with darker lyrics, the stunning “Tried To Sleep” is a largely acoustic cut that puts a modern-day spin on the West Coast singer / songwriter sounds of the seventies and also has some really nice jazzy guitar work in the middle.  “Memories” again brings to mind their earlier work with a touch of alt country that really comes through in the guitar work.  The mesmerizing “Real Love” has some strong shoegaze elements, while “When You’re Down,” featuring Dewolff’s Pablo Van de Poel, who has also produced all their releases, is a simple, stripped-down tune with more great guitar work.  The experimentation is at the forefront once more with closing track “For A Friend Pt 2,” an ethereal instrumental soundscape enhanced by the sounds of a crackling fire.  Not to beat a dead horse, but as has been the case the case with their prior releases, III is easily one of my favorite albums of the year. 

(Excelsior Recordings / Elephant)