Album Review: Elephant Tree, Handful of Ten
Posted in Reviews on September 11th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Is it all of everything Elephant Tree have done in the last 10 years? No. It’s a handful of it. Handful of Ten. A 37-minute slice of life in the band compiled from off-album tracks and demos, only six tracks but that’s enough to tell one hand’s worth of the story of the band’s progression throughout their time. Immediately, Handful of Ten seems to be trying to account for some sense of incompleteness, and that’s fair — it feels short when you listen — but Handful of Ten isn’t lacking in surrounding context. The band’s 2014 debut, Theia (review here), and their progressive-leaning 2020 third album, Habits (review here), have both been reissued through Magnetic Eye Records, and they and the band’s breakthrough 2016 self-titled (review here, discussed here) are readily available. Handful of Ten doesn’t need to tell the whole story, but it tells a lot of it anyway, and with both sneaky efficiency and their latest (for now) studio work.
To start, they launch the proceedings with a 2013 demo version of “Attack of the Altaica,” a song that in its final version was a highlight of Theia and an early showcase of the band’s potential in melodic heavycraft. The complementary vocals of guitarist Jack Townley (also synth) and bassist Peter Holland are captured in raw, rehearsal-space-style form, and the languid groove and sway of what would be the finished product are nascent amid sampling and distorted buzz. The sitar of Riley MacIntyre, who’d also add vocals to Theia, is absent in the demo, and more sampling and a jammy guitar solo late in the proceedings take some of that space, giving a sludgier vibe that seems a natural backdrop for the harsh screams that showed up on the album version even as the band seemed already to be moving toward less rigid fare.
“Attack of the Altaica” is one of two demos included on Handful of Ten, with an early take on “Bird” from Habits mirroring as the opener of side B. These can’t be the only two demos Elephant Tree have in their collective pocket of unreleased material, even if they’re the best-sounding, and that makes the choice to include them seem all the more purposeful, as though the band are specifically communicating the roots of these songs to give insight as to process and growth. “Bird” is clearer in the audio than a lot of ‘final’ studio recordings, for what it’s worth, and speaks to the contemplative atmosphere of Habits and the increasing complexity of melody and structure the band were building into their style at the time. MacIntyre had shifted to a producer’s role by then, and after a stretch as the three-piece of Townley, Holland and drummer Sam Hart — who is the secret weapon of fluidity beneath the band’s outward harmonic focus — second guitarist/synthesist/backing vocalist John Slattery joined the band.
Putting “Attack of the Altaica” and “Bird” in mirror position to each other at the starts of sides A and B, neither of them finished, lets Handful of Ten convey the clarity of vision with which Elephant Tree were working at the respective times. In 2013, the band was just getting going and hints are dropped of what’s to come as they begin to realize they’re onto something. In 2017, they’ve got two albums and sundry tours to their credit and are confident in their ability to foster a mood. This is in some ways the most essential message Handful of Ten is sending — that the story of Elephant Tree from that first demo through Habits is one of the band finding out who they are as a collective and pushing themselves to refine and evolve their approach. But you can’t really put out a 10th anniversary LP-length compilation with two circa-seven-minute demo tracks, either. Especially not when there’s new material to be had.
In a corresponding mirror — a mirror of a mirror? it’s the mirror universe! — each side ends with its own new, previously unreleased piece. The sunshine grunge and sub-four-minute runtime of “Try” caps side A with a hooky fluidity, and for a compilation that doesn’t actually feature any live material — they’d have been within their rights to include some, certainly, but would run the risk of overkill — a less expansive production sound than, say, “Visions (Planet of Doom),” which was originally tracked to include in the soundtrack for the underground-heavy-themed animated film The Planet of Doom (as yet unreleased) and is included here as the side A centerpiece, gives a nod to the performance aspect of what they do. A classic-psych shimmer and major-key harmony give a lighter feel, but the lyrics put the lie to the optimism as the line “forever lost” is repeated in the swirling last moments of wash.
Set as the closer, the six-minute “Sunday” also has an uptempo push at the start, but settles into its watery at-least-dual-vocal verse smoothly and finds more room for synth amid the forward movement. Less of a direct hook than the chorus of “Try,” “Sunday” breaks after three minutes in with residual rumble and noise before a glorious and consuming finish, mostly instrumental save for some non-lyric atmospheric vocals, and caps with church bells presumably because, well, that’s something one might hear on a Sunday depending on where one lives. As the newest of the material on Handful of Ten, “Sunday” and “Try” should pique interest in terms of the more stripped-down direction for Elephant Tree‘s upcoming split with Lowrider, The Long Forever (out next month), but on their own, they reaffirm that the progression heard between the demos for “Attack of the Altaica” and “Bird” is ongoing.
There’s comfort in that, surely, and maybe offering that is a less-talked-about part of the Elephant Tree story as well. “Visions (Planet of Doom)” is a nuanced highlight, and “Bird” and “Sunday” are divided on side B by “Faceless (2017 Hurin Version),” the origin of which I don’t know — the only reference to ‘Hurin’ I could find anywhere comes from Tolkien — but it’s shorter than the Habits take and of course sits well next to “Bird,” so you won’t hear me argue. It’s part of the tale being told, and even as Elephant Tree mark the beginning of their second decade, they commendably look forward as well as back. By its nature, Handful of Ten is something of a fan-piece, but that’s fine. I’m a fan. And these songs are a welcome reminder of why that is in the first place.
