Elf Power have released the latest single, “Soft Trash,” from their upcoming record Artificial Countrysides, out July 15 on Yep Roc Records!
FLOOD Magazine, who premiered the song and official video today, writes: “Elf Power are far from running out of ideas nearly 30 years into their time together as a psych-folk unit… Countering the dystopian imagery of [Artificial Countrysides]’s title, [“Soft Trash“]’s music video sees the band spending a day in a natural setting, with the hazy and subtly psychedelic clip proving untamed by the song’s anchoring drumbeat.”
“Soft Trash” originated from recording a samba drum machine beat from a 1970s Baldwin Fun Machine organ, an instrument renowned for its cool and bizarre sounding drum machine keyboard sounds. I fell in love with this organ/drum machine in the 1990s when our friends in the band Macha (featuring Josh McKay later of Deerhunter) used it a lot on several of their great albums. I finally acquired a Fun Machine when we started working on our latest album Artificial Countrysides, and it made it onto several of the songs on the album.
On “Soft Trash,” I liked the beat so much that I recorded it first and then wrote the chords, melody and lyrics around the drum machine beat, and then our drummer Peter Alvanos doubled the drum machine on real drums, making a nice mix or organic and artificial elements, which became a recurring theme on many of the songs on the album.
Andrew Rieger, Elf Power
Elf Power on Tour:
July 13 Milwaukee, WI – Shank Hall
July 14 Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern
July 15 Louisville, KY – Portland Creative Compound
July 16 Detroit, MI – El Club
July 17 Cincinnati, OH – MOTR Pub
July 18 Columbus, OH – Natalie’s Grandview
July 19 Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe
July 20 Millersville, PA – Phantom Power
July 21 Somerville, MA – Crystal Ballroom
July 22 Providence, RI – Columbus Theatre
July 23 New York, NY – LPR
July 24 Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom
July 25 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
July 26 Washington, D.C. – Black Cat
July 27 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle (Back Room)
July 28 Columbia, SC – New Brookland Tavern
July 29 Atlanta, GA – 529
July 30 Athens, GA – 40 Watt