Starsign Trampoline by Lucky Elephant sounds like a vintage summer evening, carefully wrapped in a timeless blanket of warmth. If that sounds pretentious then listen to the album and then find yourself agreeing. For Starsign Trampoline is something that you seldom hear these days; a record that cannot be easily compared to any other artist or recording.
Formed from the emotional spectrum of Frenchman Emmanuel ‘Manu’ Labescats vocals and the music of Sam Johnson, Paul Burnley and Laurence Clack - two of whom were previously part of lush organic electronic group Boomclick, Starsign Trampoline is a gorgeous record that casts mellow sunny vibes in a way that probably only a band from the Isle Of Wight could. A beautifully flowing piece of work cast out of pianorgans, wurlitzers, glockenspiels, melodicas, bass, guitar and drums, Starsign Trampoline is subtly melancholic and touched with beauty.
Although the album has had a relatively low key release it really deserves more exposure. It is full of wonderfully earthy instrumentation and lovely songs that are just asking to be soaked up this summer. The opening self titled instrumental has a groove that sounds like a kids lost television show, complete with shuffling percussion and catchy piano riff. After this African guitars and wurlitzers lead us into the jaunty Edgar with its rural lyrical landscape. Other standout songs are The Pier, an epic soaring highlight where Manu sings in his most unusual accented voice of the destruction of his hometown for commercial gain. “The pier isn’t worth an eyelid in a business plan,” he suggests. Then there’s Modern Life where an almost dub sounding bass and reggae like riff echo along as Manu sings “We used to climb the waterfalls every morning.” Another favourite is The Reverend Tilsey And His Magical Lantern, it’s the musical big brother of the opening tack with its tilting plodding organ sound and Manu’s charming enunciation of words. In fact it is Manu's vocals that are fundamental to the Lucky Elephant sound, with their emphasis on accented elegance leading the songs to places you wouldn't expect.
Starsign Trampoline will probably never sell huge numbers of copies, or be picked up by the media as a buzz album, but for those who are lucky enough to hear it, they will know that they have discovered something very special and unique.
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