Elephant Seal
Categories: Groups and Duos
Genres: Alternative, Rock
Contact
Melodie Briand
Saskatoon, SK
Description
Elephant Seal is a lyrically-driven alternative rock band from Saskatoon, Canada. Amidst the biting guitar riffs, thundering rhythms, and swirling dark undertones, their contemplative songs tell poetic tales of loss and the search for distant hope. Containing elements of post-rock, dark wave, and folk music, these long-form songs endear the band to a diverse fanbase.
The band’s debut album, The Elephant Seal Song Company, was released in 2019 followed by the single “Fear To Fly” in 2021. The band’s sophomore album, Arrest Your Ascent, is set to be released in December of 2023.
News
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New Album Arrest Your Ascent available December 15th!
December 14, 2023
Elephant Seal is eager to share their sophomore album, Arrest Your Ascent, set to release December 15th. This introspective collection of songs explores themes of existentialism and the pursuit of contentment amid life's challenges.
Experimenting with new guitar and piano instrumentation and drawing from influences including Manchester Orchestra and The National, Elephant Seal develops intricate musical dynamics in this new offering, while staying true to their signature narrative-style lyrics. Opening tracks “Simulation” and "Redshift Horizon” introduce the listener to a confrontation between progress and diminishment. This is further explored in tracks “You’re Not Mine” and “Likeness”, where loss and acceptance take center stage. The final track “Simulacra” is offered as a response—that there can be meaning in meaninglessness, contentment in discontent. Recorded in Saskatoon, SK at Rainy Day Recording Co., Arrest Your Ascent was produced by Matt Stinn (GreenWing) and mastered by Trevor Case (Rita Ora, Jon Batiste).
With elements of post-rock, dark wave, and folk music, Elephant Seal’s long-form songs endear the band to a diverse fanbase. The band emerged onto the Saskatoon music scene with the release of their 2019 debut album, The Elephant Seal Song Company. This was followed by the release of “Fear to Fly” in Spring of 2021, which debuted at #3 at Valley FM Radio 89.5 in Australia, and claimed airplay in Europe and North America. After receiving a Creative Saskatchewan sound recording grant in 2022, the band headed back to the studio to record their sophomore LP. The first tracks “Redshift Horizon” and “New Felt / Maelstrom” were released in November of 2022 in honour of band member, Joshua Peters, whose life was tragically taken earlier that summer. They feature Joshua’s unparalleled talent and creativity as a drummer and musician. Over the past year, guest drummer, Brandon Webber, producer Matt Stinn, and vocalist, Reisha Peters, have accompanied the band in recording the remaining tracks, many of which had been written with Joshua.
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New Singles release Friday November 18th from Saskatoon alt-rock band Elephant Seal
November 15, 2022
Available on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms, new singles from Saskatoon alt-rock band Elephant Seal “Redshift Horizon” and “New Felt/Maelstrom” provide a distant response to the character lore of the band’s debut album, The Elephant Seal Song Company (2019). Recorded at Rainy Day Recording Co, the tracks produced by Matt Stinn (Dump Babes, Friends of Foes, Saul the singer) and mastered by Trevor Case (Missy Elliot, Kelly Clarkson, Alessia Cara) combine biting guitar riffs and thundering, intentional rhythms. An ethereal anticipation is pronounced in the bright notes of the keys, with an occasional bouncy optimism throughout the bottom end.
In “Redshift Horizon”, that optimism is juxtaposed with soul-searching lyrics and apocalyptic imagery loosely inspired by Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. A cultural “shift to red” is being contemplated, drawing a comparison between literal light-waves stretching out, and humanity growing distant from its own morality.
“New Felt/Maelstrom” is the spiritual successor to the debut album track “Black Mold Apparatus”. Although there are almost no direct lyrical references to the latter, the imagery is playing off its story of a father lost at sea in a terrible storm. Thunder and waves crashing down are referenced with the instruments punching out huge chords. The drumming adds an unstoppable gale-force aspect for the musical storm created.
“Redshift Horizon” and “New Felt/Maelstrom” are being released in honour of band member Joshua Peters, whose life was taken in summer of 2022. A fervent eagerness to record the music that Joshua co-wrote is leading the band back into the studio for 2023 to complete their sophomore LP.
