"Movers and Shakers", the third album of the individual trio, takes them to uncharted musical directions. As to the album’s theme, the group has turned to a number of poets for inspiration.
Elifantree, formed by vocalist Anni Elif Egecioglu, saxophonist Pauli Lyytinen and drummer Tatu Rönkkö, will bring out their third album carrying the name Movers and Shakers this February on Tampere-based Eclipse Music. The new release will take their sound to a new level and yet one step further from conventional genre categories. The single “Layers” is a lift from the upcoming release and is now here with a music video. The group will also go on an extensive Scandinavian tour, and the Finnish audiences will have a chance to enjoy Elifantree’s new material in Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Tampere, Turku and Kuopio. For the first half of the tour they are joined by the Norwegian piano trio Splashgirl.
Elifantree have come a long way in a short time. At the time of their debut release, in 2010, they were often described as an experimental jazz group – a weird bird of jazz – but lately it has become even more futile – and, indeed, unnecessary – to try to place this group in any neat musical category. Instead it might be best to be contented to refer to them as what they are; one of the most interesting up-and-coming Finnish bands of any genre. Jazz remains present in their expression, but with the big influence of electronica Elifantree’s sound borders upon experimental pop music today. The electro-acoustic dimension of Elifantree’s soundscapes has grown deeper, the role of the piano has become more central, the polyrhythmic elements more subtle and the percussive elements have gained more melodicity.
Thematically, Movers and Shakers draws from the realm of poetry as the band has turned to several women poets – such as the Chinese Ch'iu Chin (1879-1907) and the American Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) – for inspiration. Elifantree have borrowed the title of their album from the British poet Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s 1874 piece of verse, "Ode". The first stanza of the poem goes as follows:
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
This is how the author himself has described the meaning of the term ‘shakers’: ”the ones who shake the foundations of conventional thinking by the strength of their imagination and vision”. “I like what he says very much, and I think that it manages to say capture something very central about our philosophy, too”, says vocalist Anni Elif Egecioglu. The group describes their new album as a crisp combination of social criticism, surrealism and fresh sounds. Movers and Shakers will be released on CD and later – with the aid of crowdfunding – on vinyl.
Elifantree first came to public attention in 2008 when they won the Young Nordic Jazz Comets Finnish semi-finals. Their debut album Love & Trees came out in 2010, and the sophomore Time Out two years later. The group has performed extensively in Finland and abroad, winning a growing number of people over by their unrestricted live energy. Of the members of the Finnish-Swedish group Tatu Rönkkö is currently based in Berlin, while Anni Elif Egeciouglu and Pauli Lyytinen have their home in the music scene of Helsinki.
Watch the music video of the new single, "Layers" below:
Elifantree: Movers and Shakers
Eclipse Music 2015 CD/LP
Distributor: Supersounds
CD: ECD-201529 / release date 27 Feb 2015
1. Layers / 2. A Fool's Paradise / 3. Heroes / 4. Loving Hands / 5. Dirty Hands / 6. Flood I / 7. Act Of Will / 8. The Greatest Of Them All / 9. Tide II / 10. Blinded / 11. Without You
LP: ELP-201502 / release date 3 Apr 2015
A: 1. Layers / 2. Loving Hands / 3. Dirty Hands / 4. A Fool's Paradise / 5. Blinded / 6. Tide II
B: 1. Heroes / 2. The Greatest Of Them All / 3. Flood I / 4. Act Of Will / 5. Without You
Elifantree live / Spring 2015
Tue 17 Feb 7:30PM Victoria teatern, Malmö (SWE)*
Wed 18 Feb at 8:30PM FOLK folkteatern, Göteborg (SWE)*
Thu 19 Feb at 8:00PM Nasjonal Jazzscen, Oslo (NO)*
Sat 21 Feb at 8:00PM Union Scene, Drammen (NO)*
Tue 3 Mar at 9:00PM Lavaklubi (Kansallisteatteri), Helsinki*
Wed 4 Mar at 8:00PM Philly Joe´s, Tallinna (EST)*
Thu 5 Mar at 9:30PM Poppari, Jyväskylä*
Sat 7 Mar at 10:00PM TTT-klubi, Tampere*
Wed 11 Mar at 9:00PM Rytmihäiriöklubi (Juttutupa), Helsinki
Thu 12 Mar at 9:00PM Bar Kuka, Turku
Fri 13 Mar at 9:30PM Jazzklubi, Kuopio
Sat 28 Mar at 9:00PM Unterfahrt, München (GER)
Thu 23 Apr at 7:30PM Umeå Jazzstudio, Umeå (SWE)
*with Splashgirl (NO)