Music / Premieres
Premiere:
My Elephant Ride - Other Side
My Elephant Ride - Other Side
As they currently gear up to drop their second album Beyond The Skin, local cosmic-pop crew My Elephant Ride have treated us to another cut from the forthcoming release - ‘Other Side’ is a slice of spirited psychedelia, full with gleaming synths, eclectic percussion and dreamy vocals.
Since psych-soul wunderkinds My Elephant Ride rolled onto the scene, they’ve been wooing crowds around town with their psychedelic warblings and blissed-out pop. They dropped their debut album Into The Jungle back in late 2016, and spent the following year and a half working on the follow up. Beyond The Skin is set to drop in early October, and they’ve offered up one more sneak peak today with ‘Other Side’.
The track opens smoothly with Chevaunne Keleher’s soulful vocals, which weave an unpredictable melody while a dirty bassline chugs underneath. After a moment, the melody surges upwards and the song expands open, with Chevaunne’s voice immediately turning dreamy while otherworldly sounds glimmer over a bed of jittery percussion. The track slips back momentarily before it broadens again, this time with lush synthesizers which transport the song up another level.
Right when we think we know what to expect, the track shifts and we’re hit with an eclectic groove and a mood shift. Full with playful synths, an addictive refrain and a rolling beat, it’s an unlikely change of pace that does well to hook us in. Things cool off briefly once more, before My Elephant Ride serve up one more dizzying dose of sound, this time showing off each element of the song at once, until the track drifts away.
Other Side is a wild ride of a track that keeps us on our toes throughout, and if it’s anything to go by, the only thing we can expect from Beyond The Skin is the unexpected. To celebrate the release of ‘Other Side’, we caught up with Nathan from the band to find out all about it.
The track opens smoothly with Chevaunne Keleher’s soulful vocals, which weave an unpredictable melody while a dirty bassline chugs underneath. After a moment, the melody surges upwards and the song expands open, with Chevaunne’s voice immediately turning dreamy while otherworldly sounds glimmer over a bed of jittery percussion. The track slips back momentarily before it broadens again, this time with lush synthesizers which transport the song up another level.
Right when we think we know what to expect, the track shifts and we’re hit with an eclectic groove and a mood shift. Full with playful synths, an addictive refrain and a rolling beat, it’s an unlikely change of pace that does well to hook us in. Things cool off briefly once more, before My Elephant Ride serve up one more dizzying dose of sound, this time showing off each element of the song at once, until the track drifts away.
Other Side is a wild ride of a track that keeps us on our toes throughout, and if it’s anything to go by, the only thing we can expect from Beyond The Skin is the unexpected. To celebrate the release of ‘Other Side’, we caught up with Nathan from the band to find out all about it.
TJ: Who/what is My Elephant Ride?
MER: We are three humans out of Melbourne. Joe’s the spiritual centre of the band who inspires us down the swirling infinite which is life. Chev is the brains who can solve any musical riddle thrown at her and I, Nathan, twiddle the knobs, pull the levers and spin the gears.
Tell us a bit about your new single ‘Other Side’.
‘Other Side’ is the second single from our upcoming album Beyond the Skin. It tells a tale of receiving a mysterious message from the great beyond.
The chorus was something we used to jam on years ago. Then when we were driving home from the studio late one night, Chev made me turn off what ever nonsense music I was blaring through the radio and demanded I sing this bass line. It took me a few minutes to learn it and be able to sing it back, however when I got it on a loop she started tapping on her legs and writing the song. The next day in the studio we managed to get the majority of the song recorded.
The band started as a pretty psychedelic project, and while the new music definitely doesn't shy away from the genre it seems to be incorporating sounds from a few different styles. How has My Elephant Ride's sound evolved over the last few years?
The music has evolved with us as people. We were living different lives in what seems like an alternative universe now. We have individually travelled the world, fallen in love with new people and navigated life's peaks and valleys.
The biggest change was the decision to not think about how we would perform these new songs live as we wrote them. Also, the writing and recording process was pretty much the same thing. We just sat around and were like “how about some tambourine here? Na that’s lame.. Maybe wack the floor with this stick? Na that’s shit as.” This went on for weeks.
The sessions were split between Melbourne and Bali where we turned a little room into a DIY studio which resembled a five year old’s pillow fort. We brought in as many blankets, rugs and mattresses we could find to try and get rid of the ugly sound from the concrete walls and motorbikes blaring past. The toughest thing was balancing music with trips to the beach, yoga, meditation, nasi goreng, scooter rides and bartering for cheaper coconuts.
You've got your second album just around the corner - anything you can give away about it?
It’s pretty varied with lead vocal duties shared between all of us. It’s pretty tropical with plenty of bongos and shakers, has some romantic numbers and some cryptic spiritual numbers. It comes straight from our hearts and was made with plenty of tears, prayers and joy. Beyond the Skin will be released on October 5th.
How's the rest of 2018 looking for My Elephant Ride?
We’re playing a bunch of shows in celebration of releasing the new music. We also run a small indie record label called Wigwam Records which is releasing some other music this year as well <3<3
With peace and love, My Elephant Ride
MER: We are three humans out of Melbourne. Joe’s the spiritual centre of the band who inspires us down the swirling infinite which is life. Chev is the brains who can solve any musical riddle thrown at her and I, Nathan, twiddle the knobs, pull the levers and spin the gears.
Tell us a bit about your new single ‘Other Side’.
‘Other Side’ is the second single from our upcoming album Beyond the Skin. It tells a tale of receiving a mysterious message from the great beyond.
The chorus was something we used to jam on years ago. Then when we were driving home from the studio late one night, Chev made me turn off what ever nonsense music I was blaring through the radio and demanded I sing this bass line. It took me a few minutes to learn it and be able to sing it back, however when I got it on a loop she started tapping on her legs and writing the song. The next day in the studio we managed to get the majority of the song recorded.
The band started as a pretty psychedelic project, and while the new music definitely doesn't shy away from the genre it seems to be incorporating sounds from a few different styles. How has My Elephant Ride's sound evolved over the last few years?
The music has evolved with us as people. We were living different lives in what seems like an alternative universe now. We have individually travelled the world, fallen in love with new people and navigated life's peaks and valleys.
The biggest change was the decision to not think about how we would perform these new songs live as we wrote them. Also, the writing and recording process was pretty much the same thing. We just sat around and were like “how about some tambourine here? Na that’s lame.. Maybe wack the floor with this stick? Na that’s shit as.” This went on for weeks.
The sessions were split between Melbourne and Bali where we turned a little room into a DIY studio which resembled a five year old’s pillow fort. We brought in as many blankets, rugs and mattresses we could find to try and get rid of the ugly sound from the concrete walls and motorbikes blaring past. The toughest thing was balancing music with trips to the beach, yoga, meditation, nasi goreng, scooter rides and bartering for cheaper coconuts.
You've got your second album just around the corner - anything you can give away about it?
It’s pretty varied with lead vocal duties shared between all of us. It’s pretty tropical with plenty of bongos and shakers, has some romantic numbers and some cryptic spiritual numbers. It comes straight from our hearts and was made with plenty of tears, prayers and joy. Beyond the Skin will be released on October 5th.
How's the rest of 2018 looking for My Elephant Ride?
We’re playing a bunch of shows in celebration of releasing the new music. We also run a small indie record label called Wigwam Records which is releasing some other music this year as well <3<3
With peace and love, My Elephant Ride
Have a listen to 'Other Side' above, and catch My Elephant Ride launching the new single on August 24th at Bar 303 in Northcote.
