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London Calling: Elephant Kind moves to London, release new EP

The once-Jakarta-based indie pop outfit explores new avenues in making music while embracing a humble beginning abroad

Anindito Ariwandono (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, April 4, 2023 Published on Apr. 3, 2023 Published on 2023-04-03T09:12:07+07:00

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The once-Jakarta-based indie pop outfit explores new avenues in making music while embracing a humble new beginning abroad

In March 2022, musicians Bam Mastro, Bayu Adisapoetra and Kevin Septanto who comprise alternative/indie pop trio Elephant Kind found themselves back underneath the gray skies of London, months after braving a 10-hour festival held in the city in October 2021. This time, however, they were in it for the long haul.

While their fellow bands and musicians in Indonesia were going through the post-pandemic blessings and had finally started swimming again through the familiar waters of the local music industry, Elephant Kind chose to uproot itself and flew a thousand kilometers away to the northern hemisphere.

On March 31, the band finally released a much-anticipated new EP, Superblue, following singles “Rockstar” and “Love As,” which it released back in October 2022, and February 2023, respectively.

Mind the gap

When the music video for “Love As” was released on March 24, one could not help thinking about how much of a representation it was for the band in terms of their new start in a whole different continent.

In the video, the trio, all dressed in a slightly Derelicte-esque manner, catch a run-down old Victoria Line tube to make their way back to Earth, among pantheons of anthropocentric beings – some of which are quite Lovecraftian. 

It is pretty much a fever-dream take on a commute, which might, if one was reading between the lines, correlate into their equally peculiar voyage as a band over the past three years, which Bam called “quite unorthodox.”

The band’s move to the United Kingdom often raises questions from the fans, eager to know what was really happening following the band’s shying away from live stages in Indonesia back in 2022 when other bands started frequenting events and festivals.

“As much as it is strange for our fans back home, it is also strange for us,” said Bam. “It’s something that never happened to us before, it’s nontraditional. But we really want everyone to root for us, obviously, while we’re here. To be as successful as we can get.”

“Knowing we have to start all over again is not an easy thing, but in order to grow or to gain something, you have to sacrifice something, too,” said Kevin.

“It’s exactly like eight years ago, the first time we [started performing] as Elephant Kind back in Indonesia,” added Bayu. “Déjà vu.”

The move was more or less calculated, however, and far from being a reckless decision, even though the band had to come to terms with ‘sacrificing’ a lot of things that it had built over the years back home.

The band received a good response during its October 2021 performance at Mola Chill Festival London, and it led to an offer from its label, Mola Records.

“What about this, you guys just don’t go home yet, until your visa is finished,” Bam said, imitating what the label said to the band back then.

“I can’t. I'm getting married, I have to go home,” he repeated what he said back then to the label with a faint smile.

At that point, the band had already planned to finish an album and a music video, but this was all put on hold after their arrangements with the label were sorted – including its move to the city in March 2022.

And then comes blue

The band’s latest single, “Love As,” is a tight and straightforward groover filled with driveling, sultry basslines and a childlike fascination with early analog poly synth. It has that sense of lingering familiarity that, together with their reluctantly hopeful first single, “Rockstar,” could easily be mistaken as an 80s New Romantic single– while it bears the markings of today’s music.

In Superblue, Bam’s androgynous suaveness really shines through. Even more apparent and organic compared with the band’s past releases. He opted, most of the time, for a more subdued (yet still reposed) approach over the anthemic, grandiose styles that he is most known for. It is more sincere, in a way. Authentic.

Elephant and Castle: Bam (center) and Bayu (right) during Elephant Kind's performance at The Social, a live bar located just off Regent Street, London (Courtesy of Elephant Kind) (Personal collection/Courtesy of Elephant Kind)

While the songs from Superblue may come across as somewhat distinct when compared with its previous works due to its deeper melancholic undertone, the band referred to the EP as a “transitional phase,” said Bayu. 

“Around 70 percent [of the EP] was written in Indonesia,” he continued.

The band wrote the majority of the EP back in Jakarta, where it rented a space through Airbnb for “around a week,” according to Bayu. “It was when the lockdowns started.”

The trio then spent the time recording demos, and worked on a particular song from the EP, “Lately.”

“That’s the first song. We worked on it through jamming together from the start until it became a proper song,” he continued. “We did everything together. It can be said that this EP is a starting point for us as a unit. As a proper group that really exchanges thoughts and ideas in working on songs.” 

Bam offered a more ruminating perspective on the EP: “A reflection of yourself. It’s being alone and just, you know, this out-of-body experience where you see yourself from a distance. That’s how I see Superblue.”

The EP’s subject matters, as it turned out, revolve around the band’s experiences during the pandemic.

“[The pandemic] is so far away from us now, but I think we need a day in a year to remind ourselves that there was a whole pandemic. So that we don’t take it for granted,” said Bam.

Different pond

It may be quite some time before Elephant Kind moves back to Jakarta, as Bam noted that there were a couple of records that it was “contractually working on” there, but it is still reassuring to hear that more records are to come.

Superblue, according to the band, was supposed to come out as a full-length studio album, instead of an EP before everything changed in October 2021.

“[Full-length] albums here are treated very differently,” said Kevin, highlighting the different values held by labels in the UK in contrast with those in Indonesia. It was one of the many, many things it had to learn in its conquest. It is, however, more than eager to learn.

Elephant Kind is also set to headline a show on May 4 in Manchester.

“A few people have already bought the tickets,” Bam meekly reacted to the planned concert. “There’s a lot of Indonesian students here that are quite supportive of Elephant Kind. [...] We've never had a headline show, I’m excited but really nervous at the same time. Anxious, maybe. I wanna put on a good show.”

Elephant Kind’s latest EP, Superblue, is now out on most digital streaming platforms in Indonesia.

 

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