There is nothing quite as frustrating as just getting into a band as they enter a period of hiatus, when previously they had been gigging frantically unknowingly before your very eyes. So it was with Forty Elephant Gang, having been welcomed to their world with the excellent "Hard Times", we worked our way backwards through their catalogue, the excellent "The Time We Lost" EP even belatedly taking in their Christmas single from 2020 and then nothing!
The long wait is finally over with the release of a new single "Evergreen" which initially sees a complete shift in their sound. There is a clean slickness to the opening as the percussion and guitars welcome you in, like a latter day Fleetwood Mac. It is only when the vocals come in that normal service is resumed. There is always a sense of space around their vocals as if they are recorded in a big room slightly away from the microphone. It is very effective, and adds a unique quality to their overall sound, certainly for an Americana act.
The cover picture is certainly very retro, with a picture of an old Dansette record player, with a clock from the 1950's and a cup and saucer, the sort that your parents might have brought back from a summer holiday many years ago.
The assumption would be that these articles hold special memories, the lyrics reference returning home
"Pack your bags I'm rolling home"
In many ways the lyrics almost don't matter as it is the music that captivates and holds the attention
"Standing by the roadside laughing
Watching all the people passing by
Oh life
Sentimental records playing
I don't believe a word they're saying
Lies, Oh lies"
The chorus of
"Evergreen, my love for you
Will last"
is a delightfully soothing mix of harmonies and from the second visit onwards, a beautiful mandolin sound appears that we could listen to all day, such is it's charming hypnotic quality.
The band have been recording during the summer and it this is just the opening salvo it whets the appetite for what more is to come.