Musically, the Human Elephant is not that hard to describe, for it clearly follows the lines of some great indie rock acts from the past, bands that shall remain nameless to avoid the pit trap of obviousness… and does so without itself falling into the boredom of mere homage (i.e. theft). So about the music, let’s just say the 8 tracks here contained are top notch and quite memorable in their own right. Lyrically though, it’s a whole different story. A whole different, slippery and challenging story. The tone is just unique, there’s not an easy generic tree from where to hang it. It seems to be weirdly balanced for rich ambiguous effect, balanced way up high… or way down below. It’s bitterly cynical but then it’s also tender and compassionate. It’s immediate and intimate, yet coming from the voice of an Outsider, thus with a deep eerie distance and a telescopic effect. It’s both romantic and deadpan. It’s as funny as it is affecting. Maybe its weirdest balance is extroversion (it is rock music after all) and introversion (all of these songs feel like snippets from the secret diaries of a very rare individual). To all this, add the fact that sometimes the words are contradicting the feeling behind the music, sometimes enhancing it, sometimes just passing by like some casual observer wearing a sad ironic smirk like an old weathered overcoat. I don’t know… maybe the writer of these songs grew up both on pop culture and the devoted reading of Kafka and Dostoyevsky… maybe even Robert Walser. Whatever the case may be, the Human Elephant is not at all what it seems. A strange half-breed, as strange as his cousin, the cat-lamb creature.

Eduardo Padilla

You deserve to die (3:35)

And the spiders (3:33)

One more time (4:22)

The Star (3:36)

Somehow we know (3:37)

Peregrine Dreamsong (2:54)

Are you my love? (3:57)

Your Letters (3:16)