Favorite Albums of 2014: Sky Swimming, by Elephant
Despite having been around since 2010, this is French-English duo Elephant‘s debut album, reprising some of their best singles released in the last four years along with new tracks. A seamless blend of ’60s girl group and mid-career Cocteau Twins, SKY SWIMMING is dreamy, catchy, intimate and lovely. While at first listen it may appear to be cut largely from the same stylistic cloth (which is to say, a relatively gentle, echo-drenched, laid-back vibe), repeat listenings reveal the great melodies and hooks, and I have to give them credit for having such good songwriting out of the gate that the tracks from 2011 stand proudly next to the ones from this year. If you’re a fan of Beach House, you should give this one a try. Here’s the lead track, “Assembly”.
Buy it here.
[…] described as “dream-pop/doo-wop” (wording I wish had been in my lexicon when describing Elephant in a previous post); that’s a good starting point, if a bit dated. Their basic approach—upbeat, organic, […]