Eclectic instrumental electronic trio Elephant Wrecking Ball will say goodbye (for now) on Sunday, September 21st at Denver’s Certavantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom with a full, debut performance of the band’s new album, Mars Returns [get tickets].
The trio, composed of former Dopapod drummer Neal “Fro” Evans, Thievery Corporation bassist Dan Africano, and ODESZA trombonist Scott Flynn, will take a break from live performances as Flynn moves to Europe with his family next month. In an email to Live For Live Music, Evans confirmed that the band is not breaking up or going on indefinite hiatus, “just being realistic that it might be a while before we get to do it again.” While this move certainly presents some challenges, Evans expressed optimism that it’s also an opportunity for the band to expand its footing in Europe.
Formed in the early 2010s, Elephant Wrecking Ball combines elements of jazz, hip-hop, and electronic, but with enough avant-garde weirdness to subvert all norms and expectations. Between the members’ busy schedules with myriad other projects, the band has released four full-length albums since 2012, including a debut live release and a 2014 studio follow-up, Barren Serenade, featuring collaborations with The Motet’s Drew Sayers and keyboardist Scott Hannay. The band has since gone on to log notable studio collabs with Punkadelic’s Mike Dillon and Snarky Puppy’s Chris Bullock. Elephant Wrecking Ball’s last album, Joy Front, arrived in 2019, with the band releasing its instrumental interpretation of The Nightmare Before Christmas‘ “This Is Halloween” in 2021 as a standalone single.
On Mars Returns, Elephant Wrecking Ball delivers a sprawling, continuous composition, broken up into 14 individual tracks. Guided throughout by Africano’s driving basslines, the album crosses galaxies of hard-hitting prog, up-tempo jazz, and old-school hip-hop beats, just in the first few tracks alone. EWB is capable of delicate moments of intimacy as well, like on “Lay Naked Awakening”. A reflective track for, well, they pretty much nailed the title on that one. On the topic of great song names, “Sparkle Mountain Death” is another winner. The entire Mars Return journey is cyclical, landing back on the planet’s surface with melodic callbacks to the album opener for a full orbital journey.
Expanding on the influences found in the members’ other projects, Elephant Wrecking Ball is a manifestation of uncompromising originality. More than a side band, it’s a vehicle for the members to push their creativity and inspirations past the limits of traditional live acts. Even in a digital world where we have access to more recorded music than any other time in history, you’d still have a hard time finding another group quite like Elephant Wrecking Ball.
See Elephant Wrecking Ball’s last show for the foreseeable future on Sunday, September 21st at Cervantes’ in Denver [get tickets]. The band will play a regular first set, followed by a second set featuring the new album, Mars Returns.
Elephant Wrecking Ball — “Mountain Lion” — Nashville, TN — 10/25/19
Elephant Wrecking Ball — “Practicing Underdog” — Nashville, TN — 10/25/19