Eventful few months for Elephant Tree. Also the rest of the planet, but definitely too for the London-based four-piece, who were about to unveil the latest video from their oh-why-don’t-I-just-go-put-it-on-again 2020 sophomore LP, Habits (review here), when a series of allegations of sexual harassment and rape were brought against Alex Fitzpatrick, the head of what was then the band’s label, Holy Roar Records.

Well then. Label exploded, of course. Some of the other parties involved in Holy Roar formed a new imprint called Church Road Records that a few bands migrated toward. Elephant Tree seemed to buy back whatever rights, etc., to their own material and one assumes that before their third LP surfaces sometime in the future, they’ll figure out a next move in terms of who’s putting it out. There’s time, and certainly in a case where there are victims of sexual assault involved, distribution/promotion concerns are superseded. It’s 2020. Nobody’s on the side of an accused rapist except apparently about 43 percent of my country in pre-election polls.

Zing!

I’ve had the back end of this post ready to roll out since Sept. 2, I think, and it’s just been sitting there in my drafts since I knew sooner or later Elephant Tree would indeed unveil “The Fall Chorus.” The teaser that they posted was duly enticing, and the clip itself follows an artfully conveyed narrative done with cut-out puppeteering and well shot to coincide with the emotionality on display in what’s unquestionably the most subdued track on Habits, an answer perhaps in part to “Circles” from the band’s 2016 self-titled debut (review here).

To call the situation around their now-former label ugly and unfortunate is understating it, but I’m glad the band finally got to release this video. Yes, because it means I can finally make use of this draft, but also since it’s a sure sign that after releasing one of the best albums of 2020, they’re ready to move forward and see what comes next.

Enjoy:

Elephant Tree, “The Fall Chorus” official video

Video Directed by Mark Crane @ Theatre On Wax [https://www.theatreonwax.com/]
Additional puppeteering and construction by Sheelagh Frew Crane [www.sheelaghfrewcrane.com]
Snow Overlay provided by Videezy [https://www.videezy.com/]

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Tags: Deathwish Inc, Elephant Tree, Elephant Tree Habits, Habits, Holy Roar Records, London, UK

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2020 at 6:46 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.