New work by the Barakaldo band, in which they once again emphasize their characteristic sound, and totally uninhibited, based on that mixture of styles that moves between pop, electronics, classic rock, and even metal, all of it supported by some bright letters.
Once again, and as usual, The Elephant Captain They have recorded again at Chromaticity Estudios, by Pedro J. Monge, who has done a fantastic job in the mastering and production of ‘Asuntos exteriores’. It should be noted that, as we all know, the industry is as it is, and music is heard the way it is heard these days, and for this reason, before the release of the LP, we already knew several of the songs – nothing more and nothing less than half – that make up this “Foreign Affairs”, which during the past year, had been presented to us in small pills. It might be thought that, in this way, the surprise factor could be loaded, in a certain way, or that interest in listening to the complete album would be lost, but nothing could be further from the truth, since, with these advances, they did nothing more than whet our appetite, waiting for more doses of The “captain”. So, here’s the whole album so that everyone can enjoy this crazy mix of sounds of all kinds, the result of the musical restlessness of these four musicians.
To begin with, the choice of ‘With you there is no peace’ as the initial theme of the album seems correct, since it is a song that could summarize what we are going to find throughout the LP. A composition, by the way, that is complemented by a magnificent video clip directed by Ander Cabello and starring Ander Otaola and Ylenia Baglietto. Next, they offer us a block of songs that, as we highlighted previously, not because they are known, they stop being interesting; there’s that wonderful madness that is ‘Interferences’ (if you have the opportunity, ask them about the origin of this song, which is very curious), the electronic pop of ‘Planet of the Precipices’ or ‘Harry head of a dog’, and rhythms more accelerated with ‘Swirls and quicksands’, where the collaboration of Leire Tejada stands out, supporting Javi Marcos on vocals, and where we even glimpse some funky guitars.
With ‘I am Bukowski’ they immerse themselves in a more rock territory, in which they remain in other songs like the rabid ‘Canción truculenta’, with a somewhat dark point, and above all, ‘Una tarde calma’, very metal. For the end they leave a futuristic proposal entitled ‘El sindicato de robots’, a rarity that, like anything else they can think of, also finds its place, and does not clash with the endless catalog of sounds proposed by the quartet.
The subject of lyrics deserves special mention, of which we will not talk too much, so that everyone listens (and reads) them carefully, and draws their own conclusions. But I think it is fair to highlight that, if as a singer, Javi is immeasurable, as a lyricist he is in a sweet moment of maximum inspiration, and it is undeniable that, today, the texts are a fundamental part of El Capitán Elefante, probably what that makes them stand out from other equally risky musical bands.
Not much else can be added to this analysis of ‘Asuntos exteriores’, one of the best albums by a band that doesn’t stop growing and, by the way, nobody should miss out on live.