elephant micah

from backwoods minimalism to “redneck mysticism”

EChoER’S iNTENT TiME-Lag RECoRdS, 2010

There’s not much more to the most rustic-sounding of Elephant Micah’s last four albums than O’Connell’s voice, strummed or finger-picked guitar, fiddle, banjo, a homespun sound. The songs, though, rooted in nature and the Indiana outback, are full of shadow and mystery. Imagine a Sun Kil Moon album devoted entirely to songs about birdwatching and barking robots. 8/10

LoUdER ThaN ThoU PaRadiSE of BaChELoRS, 2012

After a decade of lo-fi minimalism, on most of these six tracks O’Connell engages with the brighter, crisper sounds you might associate with ’70s LA folk and country rock. Dulcimer, saxophone, keyboards, layered harmonies and electric guitars are added to the mix, spectacularly so on six-minute closer “Airline Living”, a brooding reverie about departure and separation. 9/10

gLoBE RUSh PRogRESSioNS PRodUCT of PaLMyRa, 2013

The ruptured textures of opener “Schroeder In Borneo” point O’Connell towards the shattered drones and fissures to come on Genericana. The track’s various clatterings and disruptions even rumble beneath the surface of cuts that cleave to a former musical template, like “Marie’s Hair”, “Dentist/ Drummer”. The biggest surprise, though, is a lovely version of “Jesus Christ” from Big Star’s Third. 7/10

WhERE iN oUR WoodS WESTERN ViNyL, 2015

On this largely low-key LP, O’Connell plays all the instruments (including guitar, portable pipe organ, toy piano, baritone ukulele) apart from drums, played by his brother, Matthew. Will Oldham provides harmony vocals. The album revisited songs written almost a decade earlier that brilliantly evoke what O’Connell calls “redneck mysticism”. 9/10