Bio
Elephant Seal is set to release their sophomore album in late 2023. The album provides a distant response to the character lore introduced in their debut. Tales of a family experiencing loss and searching out truths are further developed against a backdrop of melancholy lyrics and sounds swirling with dark and minor undertones. Described as progressive indie, art rock, and dark wave, the band weaves the lyrical folklore stylings of Fleet Foxes with the brooding soundscape of Manchester Orchestra, endearing them to fans of alternative, indie, and folk rock.
In the spring of 2022, the band received a Creative Sask recording grant and headed into the studio. In July, shortly after recording the first two tracks, the life of band member Joshua Peters was suddenly taken. In honour of Joshua, the recorded tracks, “Redshift Horizon” and “New Felt/Maelstrom”, were released in Autumn of 2022. The third track “You’re Not Mine” of the forthcoming album was released in September 2023. All three tracks were produced by Matt Stinn (GreenWing, Friends of Foes, Saul the singer) and mastered by Trevor Case (Rita Ora, Jon Batiste).
Elephant Seal previously worked with Stinn and Case on their single “Fear to Fly” released Spring of 2021. The single debuted at #3 at Valley FM Radio 89.5 in Australia and also had airplay in Europe and North America. It was released on the vinyl compilation “How Flat Sounds” in December 2021 to raise funds for the SaskMusic Emergency Financial Relief Fund.
The band originated as The Elephant Seal Song Company in 2016, when cousins Seth Peters (Cue the Chase) and Jordan Reimer (Fisticuffs, Dream Country, The Gravity Brothers) commenced collaboration on a new project. They quickly recruited an unrelated friend, Joshua Peters (Unreal, Sonitus, JJ Atrio, Josh & Van). Throughout long nights, the three experimented with every aspect and nuance of creating music, fusing together genres to create a sound of their own. Described as a “progressive lounge rock” album, the Saskatoon based band released their self-titled debut in late 2019 (mixed/mastered/produced by Matt Stinn). Soon after, pianist Joyce Reimer became the fourth member, providing the ability to bring the multi-layered sounds of the album to live performances, and adding a new dimension to the song writing process.