Subscribe
now to receive all the new
music
big somebody creates,
including
4 back-catalog releases,
delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android.
Learn more.
I was crossing the desert for the first time while twisted my ankle and could not drive. Yannick Roffet (Hi mate !) took me in his car and I started a song some how during the 'in between times' the Sahara provides. I had "echoes"(The Pink Floyd) in mind for the music, with an ending like a fire work explosion. Later on I planned to transform the song into a tribute to Syd Barrett. Finally, the lyrics as they are here have mostly been done on the spot in Krakow.
rythm:
That 14 minutes song I had recorded in 2 takes at Dworek studio was rather filled with the emotion I was feeling for the song (thinking for instance at the battles of René Char in Spain and in France as "Capitaine Alexandre"). So that I was not always following a clear rhythm. I encouraged anyway my fellow musicians to record their part following that guitar. I first erased the first 4 minutes, thinking it would be too tricky to manage. After some more negative comments regarding rhythm, I almost abandoned the album, leaving that song in a corner. But when Radoslaw Kopec joined the project, he said the rhythm was manageable. I then re-attached these first 4 min. of the song and re-arranged the sounds and backgrounds, redoing all bass guitar, piano/keyboards and electric guitar parts, adding atmosphere sounds and more, to give to "the charge" some soul. Adam then retook all the drums and percussions. Finally, I invited a trumpet, 2 saxophones, a violin and a cello mostly to improvise at particular moments of the track; the cello had to take the place of the guitar and rather followed the original chords. At the end of the process I faced mountains of tracks for each instrument. I took months to select more sounds and arrange the song, also from home, building a little studio in my room especially for the occasion. Finally I almost erased all the initial rhythmic guitar who has been there to orientate all the other instruments, like a set of hidden values.
yesterday:
the charge of the elephants of love carries the idea of fighting for the good, like the RAF spitfire pilots in 1940-1941 and after. My father was 9 in 1941. He told me: "Those pilots who dropped their bombs low, were risking their life, as the Germans shot at them, while avoiding many civilian casualties. Sometimes they flew so low that they could wave their hand to say hello to us, the French kids from Asnières-sur-Seine (Paris) on our school play ground. They were wonderful, beyond words. As if if they were telling us "enjoy your (war)time! We manage !!".
today:
to join spirit & action, I have chosen (I speak from 2018) to support the "SOS Méditerranée" organisation; Ref. Lyrics:
"Now, my dear elephants of love, let’s keep our heart wide open and… Charge. Charge!! Charge!!".
If you wish to make a donation to "SOS Méditerranée", here is their website: www.sosmediterranee.fr
Nicolas Dubreil
lyrics
Screaming, doubting, crying inside,
Thinking you may be the only one to blame
Travelling through the long dark corridor of pain
Running away, out of breath you reach the land beyond
Discovering the same jugglers and puppets
Screaming to the operator to fix the marketed bot voice
Breaking through the ice towards decency.
Slave of the globalized social genocide
Screaming, doubting, crying inside,
Thinking you may be the one to blame
Travelling through the long dark corridor of pain
Scream, scream, scream, at their mountain of fake
And once you are exhausted, you think, it’s going to be all right
But, it is never going to be all right
And you wait a long time, expecting a moment of genuine decency to enjoy life
Building your little mountain of money
Ending up with a strange taste in your mouth,
‘Cause money makes you free to live for someone else...
...A mountain of money, to live for someone else…
...Ending up with a strange taste in your mouth...
...Free to scream at their mountain of fake !!
It’s time Sir, Madam, it's time to call for all our family members, and to ring the charge of the elephants of love, you know, the elephants of love we are.
Son, Daughter, it is you to take the lead. At your command; let us join together !
Now, I am overjoyed to see in front of me, an ocean of Sirs, Madams, Sons and Daughters coming from all the galaxies, joining as one wonderful and peaceful family.
We, elephants of love, shall reply to any call for justice, any call for solidarity and peace: this is our charge; to give birth to a "symphony of brotherhood" (Ref. Martin King, https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_have_a_dream)! ... Today, "let us to the end, dare to do our duty"(Ref. Abraham Lincoln, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_Union_speech), beyond the borders of space and time !
Now, my dear elephants of love, let’s keep our heart wide open and… Charge... Charge!!... Charge!!...
Nicolas Dubreil
credits
from the elephants of love,
released March 18, 2018
Nicolas Dubreil (talking & singing, guitar, Lyrics & music)
Radoslaw Kopec (electric guitar, bass, piano & keyboards)
Adam Stępniowski (drums)
Kazimir Michalik (violin)
Jacek Dubis (cello)
Marcin Mączyński (cello)
Radosław Zprzeginia (trumpet)
Grzegorz Baran (Saxophone)
Bartłomiej Szumilas (Saxophone)
The Besnard Lakes return with their first new LP in four years, full of the same mystery and wonder on which they have built their name. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 30, 2020
The Besnard Lakes are back with a new 12", and a new single. Expansive and psychedelic, much like the band's previous work. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 29, 2016
New York indie pop duo embark on an ambitious, ecstatic spirit quest, crafted with continuous listening in mind; a dreamy, rewarding loop. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 7, 2023
