Montreal, QC-based psych rock trio Elephant Stone — comprised of Rishi Dihr (lead vocals, sitar, bass), Jean-Gabriel Lambert (drums, backing vocals), and Miles Dupire (drums, backing vocals) — have developed a national profile across their native Canada and Stateside for a vintage psych rock sound reminiscent of The Beatles, The Kinks and severals as the Canadian trio’s earliest material paired elements of Eastern instrumentation — mainly, the sitar — with Western songwriting, arrangements and instrumentation. And rather unsurprisingly, over the past few years the Montreal-based trio have also become a JOVM mainstay artist.
With the 2014 release of Elephant Stone’s third full-length effort, The Three Poisons, the Canadian trio went through a major and rather decided change of songwriting approach and sonic direction in which sitar was pushed back to the background — and when it was employed, it was seemingly used to add additional texture and color. Since then, the Canadian trio have released a batch of singles including “The Devil’s Shelter,” which was released at the end of last year. That single, which featured a guest spot from The Black Angels‘ Alex Maas was yet another example of the trio experimenting with their sound as tense, undulating synths, shimmering sitar and guitar chords and a driving motorik-like rhythm were paired with Dihr’s and Mass’ alternating vocals to create an ominous and murky sound that channeled The Black Angels “Don’t Play With Guns.”
Early last month, the trio released “Where I’m Going” a single that continued the band’s most recent sonic experimentations while suggesting that the band may have been listening to Evil Heat-era Primal Scream — in particular, I think of “Autobahn 66” and “Detroit” as Dihr’s ethereal cooing is paired with shimmering guitar chords, a tight and propulsive, motorik groove, four-on-the-floor drumming and layers of shimmering and undulating synths in what may arguably be the most dance-floor ready songs that they’ve released to date. “Andromeda,” the band’s latest single sounds like a return to the vintage psych rock sound that first caught the blogosphere’s attention as shimmering guitar chords and a propulsive and driving rhythm are paired with Dihr’s plaintive cooing about the nature of the universe; however, swirling synths and a brief burst of tribal drumming manage to reveal a band that’s relentlessly experimenting and attempting new ways to expand upon their sound while retaining familiar elements.
The band will be on tour throughout March, and it includes an NYC date. Check out the tour dates below.
