Haunting Ground by Elbury
In June 2016, the band spent eight days in the studio recording their 2017 debut LP, Haunting Ground. This full-length work builds on two previous EPs - Report on the Night (2013) and Demasquerade (2015). The emphasis, from the outset, was on variety of textures, moods and weights. Arrangements were adapted on the fly to build in space and to allow diverse instrumental parts to be worked in, including the glockenspiel, the melodica, the honky-tonk piano and the Animoog iPad synth.
The album deals with themes of nostalgia and obsessive reflection on the past. How do we think about our past achievements and failings and how does this shape us? Self-improvement, self-defeat, self-censorship and the little voices inside our heads.
Lead single, Past Life Memories, layers rich three-part harmonies over ambient guitars, building to a rolling folk-rock chorus. The song imagines a chance encounter with an old school-friend. “Hey, how are you these days?”. The questions and comparisons that will inevitably arise, and the possibility of ducking down a laneway and avoiding the situation altogether. Later tracks evoke familiar suburban scenes - lazy Sunday afternoons while baking smells waft over, delving deep into family history and hardship, some summertime rain...
And, underneath it all, the hometown, the haunting ground - where the memories were made and the mind was cast.
Spend enough time living in the past and you will set up camp in one of two places: yearning for glory days or regretting your failings. Maybe spend a little time in each… So, pay a visit to an old house. Wear a blindfold and fill your mind with old times. Let the memories build until they’re ringing in your head, like sirens. Then step inside. Right now I'm empty... but with the smallest nudge, perfume in the air, I'm floored again. Straight back down the rabbit hole - I disappear completely.
Tracklist
| 1. | Past Life Memories | 3:42 |
| 2. | Aromas | 4:02 |
| 3. | Like Sirens | 5:10 |
| 4. | Red-faced, Revision | 4:44 |
| 5. | High Tide | 2:35 |
| 6. | War Nostalgia | 3:29 |
| 7. | Empty-headed | 5:05 |
| 8. | Chaplin | 4:11 |
| 9. | Old Roads | 4:53 |
| 10. | Messy Bun | 4:58 |
Credits
All songs by Elbury, which is Edward Buckridge, Michael Luck, Tam Hutchison and Luke Mulhare.
Produced by Tristan Hoogland.
Recorded at Alchemix Recording Studio and Hunting Ground Studios.
Mastered by William Bowden (King Willy Sound).
License
All rights reserved.
Five-piece alternative-folk act from Brisbane, with a repertoire that verges on acoustic rock but also lots of singer-songwriter tunes, some ballads and some fun, upbeat numbers.