“vibrant and dynamic record that sweeps from restlessly driving opener “Car’s Running Let’s Go” and crunchy and dynamic “Ceasefire” to rousing rocker “Schroedinger In Love” and heartfelt and dreamier “If You Let It”” — The Big Takeover
“Ceasefire is a catchy single that everyone can relate to” — Rock Source Magazine
“Soundtrack-ready” — Global Texan Chronicles
“Powerful. The vocals turn and twist on the sharp words of a knife”. — The Median Man
the story goes further…
Elephants and Stars, the Toronto and Hamilton-area trio-cum-quintet are back again with more songs, more melodies and more members!
ISOLATION. CONFLICT. ESCAPISM. These are all themes of t heir new EP, Dreamland , which is definitely tougher, louder, faster and has a darker underbelly lyrically leaning a little more heavily on their rock influences than their first EP, Recovery .
In a way, Dreamland, could be the unmade soundtrack to the Twilight Zone episode Five Characters in Search of an Exit, especially as there were originally only 5 songs on the EP. Summing up this storyline is the imagry of the album cover, a photo of an abandoned theme park.
“I thought it was such a great metaphor for life. There is this great and wonderful facade, but inside it’s just all left to rot in the end” – Manfred Sittmann
Following the release of 2020’s Recovery EP, recorded and mixed by Lowest of the Low frontman Ron Hawkins, no one could have predicted what happened next. Recovery was released just as the world plunged into what would become the worst pandemic in over 100 years and essentially shut the music business down for the next year.
Luckily for Elephants and Stars, just prior to this they entered the studio with heavyweight Canadian musician and producer Ian Blurton (Lowest of the Low, The Weakerthans, Amy Millan) and recorded 6 new tracks which became Dreamland.
About Elephants and Stars…
Singer-guitarist Manfred Sittmann and bassist Mike MacMillan have “never not been in a band together”. In the early 2000’s they formed Soap Opera, which was signed to Bullseye Records releasing two albums, Poised and Welcome to the Tangiers. Then came The First Time, whose 2004 debut It’s On, a faster and heavier take on Soap Opera’s pop-punk sound, produced by Warne Livesey (Midnight Oil, Matthew Good). It’s On was named Best Punk Record at the 2005 Toronto Independent Music Awards and received rave reviews, as well as mainstream US radio play and TV network licensing for the singles “Goodbye Harlowe” and “New Day Dawning.”