Elefant

ELEFANT: Releases [2025]

JANUARY 2025

ER-D389 ALPACA SPORTS \"Always On My Mind\" Single Digital (2 Tracks) [8-1-2025]
ER-1281PLP BUBBLE TEA AND CIGARETTES \"There’s Nothing But Pleasure\" LP (Pink Coloured Vinyl Edition) [10-1-2025]
ER-D381 AMOR BUTANO \"Virgen De Las Desamparadas\" Single Digital [15-1-2025]
ER-1298 ALPACA SPORTS \"Another Day\" LP [17-1-2025]
ER-D393 LISASINSON \"Quiero Que Perdamos La Cabeza (Otra Vez) (David Van Bylen Remix)\" Single Digital [31-1-2025]

FEBRUARY 2025
ER-D394 THE PRIMITIVES \"Sweet Sister Sorrow\" Single Digital [7-2-2025]
ER-D390 MADDIE MAE \"Medusa\" Single Digital [14-2-2025]
ER-D396 MARIA RODÉS (Feat. DELAFÉ) \"Hechizo\" Single Digital [21-2-2025]
ER-D397 PAPA TOPO \"Ven A Mis Brazos\" Single Digital [28-2-2025]

MARCH 2025

ER-1300 THE PRIMITIVES \"Let\'s Go Round Again • Second Wave Singles & Rarities 2011-2025\" Doble-LP [7-3-2025]
ER-1299 IBON ERRAZKIN \"Nubes Y Claros\" Álbum Digital [14-03-2025]
ER-D399 PAPA TOPO \"Emasculación, La Solución\" Single Digital [18-03-2025]
ER-D398 MARIA RODÉS \"Lo Que Me Pasa\" Single Digital [21-03-2025]
ER-D401 LISASINSON \"Si Me Pierdo\" Single Digital [26-03-2025]
ER-D400 MARIA RODÉS (Feat. CALIFATO ¾) \"Lo Que Me Pasa (Califato ¾ Trip Hop Remix)\" Single Digital [28-03-2025]

APRIL 2025

ER-1301 PAPA TOPO \"Presto y con Toda la Fuerza\" LP [25-4-2025]

PAPA TOPO "Presto y con Toda la Fuerza" LP

PAPA TOPO is back with their long-awaited second album, “Presto y con Toda la Fuerza”. This album is by far their most ambitious and complex work to date. Despite staying true to their exaggerated, melodic, catchy pop, the group is releasing an existentialist album, full of loneliness, unease, and rage that comes from contemporary society.

Adrià Arbona has spent the last almost three years writing and arranging and producing this collection of songs, and he did it all with such great passion and attention to detail. After a long period of creative crisis, Adrià decided that, considering what is takes to produce an album, he shouldn’t be shy about it. If art is capable of transmitting messages, you need to use that platform to talk about what you’re really feeling, take a stand and leave the pleasantries behind. So Adrià started a new and fruitful path with the band he had already gotten together with the song “Por España”. In this new stage, without letting go of the more fantastical qualities that have always characterized PAPA TOPO, the political and social activist qualities have become more prominent.

The album title is a quote from one of Joseph Haydn’s tempo and dynamics annotations for the last movement of his piece “The Seven Last Words of Christ”, which was commissioned to be played in the Oratorio de la Santa Cueva church in Cadiz. That movement, called “The Earthquake”, describes in sound how the earth shook and trembled after Christ’s passing, an image that represents this apocalyptic, end-of-days theme so well that it runs through a large part of PAPA TOPO’s new album. “Presto y con Toda la Fuerza” can be understood as a declaration of intentions; it is an album made to shout with rage against a consumeristic society, and to hit our oppressors hard with music, with all of the strength and force possible. The title also works as an indication of tempo and dynamics for the whole album, since, in terms of sound, it is full of thunderous and dizzying tempos.

Musically, the album stands out for the profusion of orchestral arrangements and omnipresence of electronic music. Since the release of “Ópalo Negro” in 2016, Adrià has finished studying composition at the Taller de Músics in Barcelona, where he acquired the necessary technical knowledge about orchestration to be able to write the elegant and complex string and wind arrangements that he had been dreaming of since PAPA TOPO first started. He also started getting into nightclub electro music, expanding the band’s soundscape and creating a personalized ambiance where different influences like classic impressionism, dance music, pop, punk, folklore, cuplé, and atonality all coexist. In between songs, there are interludes with names of baroque dances that give a sense of unity and continuity to the collection of songs and gives the album an air of an old instrumental suite.

The album opens with “Frágil”, a song that mixes impressionistic-tinted orchestral music with drum & bass to talk about something Adrià is really concerned with: the fragility that living in this exponentially more algorithm-based world causes, with the value of things and people measured by the number of followers or likes. In this digital society, we are more and more slaves to ourselves and we have so much pressure to be constantly promoting ourselves online in order to be successful personally and professionally. This song is inspired by reading Remedios Zafra’s texts and reflections, which resonated really intensely with Adrià, who identified with a lot of the topics the author talked about in her bibliography.

“Dime Mentiras” continues in the same line both lyrically and musically. It narrates the experience of feeling profoundly alone in a time when, despite it being easier than ever to connect with people thanks to social networks, the majority of our relationships wind up being superficial connections. It talks about the desperate search for intimacy and depth in the “meat market”, even if it’s dishonest.

“Ven a mis brazos”, which initially seems like a love song, is really about the constant apocalyptic feeling we have in today’s world. Adrià started writing it on March 14, 2020 (the day before Spanish confinement started) and it is somehow a farewell letter to the world as we know it. The threat of a pandemic, the rise in the far-right, the dawn of AI, the spread of disinformation on social networks and climate change and its catastrophic consequences make it feel like the world as we know it is coming to an end, that the end is near, a paradigm shift is sending us into dark and terrifying unknown territory. The song repeats the cry “ven a mis brazos” (let me hold you) and claims that love for our fellow loved ones is the only thing that can protect us from this new dystopian world. Musically, however, it is quite possibly the happiest, poppiest song on the album and it reminds us of ABBA at their most Eurovision-esque.

“Me Voy A Desenamorar De Ti” (a collaboration with the great Argentine diva Juliana Gattas, the lead singer from MIRANDA!, the most important pop duo in Latin America) and “Como el Mar” are similar both in music and lyrics. Both are heartbreaking songs that tell the story of toxic and impossible love surrounded by melodramatic, Almodovar-esque music that comes together to create a beautiful contrast with the intense electronic sound.

“Nunca Digo No” is a cry of rage against people who take advantage of the weakness of others who are afraid of saying no. The song’s reflection is that even with consent, we can’t be sure that a relationship (whether it’s sexual, professional, or any other kind) is really consensual. There are so many factors to think about, like fear or shame that could make us accept things that we don’t really want. The song is equally as aggressive lyrically as it is musically, and it is one of the noisiest in PAPA TOPO’s repertoire. The melody is melancholic, like a Spanish folk song, and it contrasts ferociously with the intense instrumentation, halfway between shoegaze and gabber, representing that mix of profound sadness and rage caused by feeling like you can’t say no out of fear of upsetting someone else.

“Dinero Rosa” is an ironic and fun portrait of gay capitalism or “gaypitalism” as it was coined by Shangay Lily. In recent decades there has been a new and powerful industry with the LGTBIQ+ collective as the target public and PAPA TOPO are aware that, somehow, they are a part of it. This commercialization of the rainbow initials promotes the assimilation of the collective within capitalist logic and turns the fight for rights into something that can be bought and sold. Musically, this is a crazy atonal parody that differs from some of the current cliches of music made with the gay crowd in mind, like an impossible cross between Schönberg and CHARLI XCX.

“Crist de la Sang” takes the form of an old romance, with a melancholic folk melody inspired by Mallorquin songs and wrapped in production that mixed elements of folklore with other electronic elements. The lyrics, written in Adrià’s native Mallorquin, tells the story of someone who has had an accident that has left their face disfigured, and who feels a deep and secret pleasure at the reaction their injuries cause their loved ones. These desires of victimization and self-harm in search of affection are an exaggerated hyperbole, but that blatantly and grotesquely show the twisted thoughts loneliness can lead us to.

To close the album, “Emasculación, La Solución” is a powerful, sharp and hilarious conclusion that takes on the topic that cuts through the whole album: hegemonic masculinity as the origin of all the world’s evil. To the beat of a fast-paced, rave-like Spanish pasodoble, and full of the irony of Álvaro Retana’s cuplés, the song cries out against manhood and encourages all its victims to fight against it. The lyrics explain that, historically, men have defended the impenetrability of their anus as a symbol of pure virility, which turns reclaiming anal penetration into, in some way, reclaiming the symbolic elimination of the masculine – emasculation.

The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Lorenzo Matellán. The cover art, paintings that bring together the whole crazy and diverse universe that has been a part of PAPA TOPO since the very beginning, is the work of Rafael Rojas.

Welcome to this new adventure! We hope you enjoy the show.

TRACKLIST: 01 Fanfarria 02 Frágil 03 Dime Mentiras 04 Ven a mis brazos 05 Me Voy A Desenamorar De Ti (Feat. Juliana Gattas) 06 Como el Mar 07 Zarabanda 08 Nunca Digo No 09 Ricercare 10 Dinero Rosa 11 Pavana 12 Crist de la Sang 13 Jácara 14 Emasculación, La Solución 15 Cadencia

MARIA RODÉS (Feat. CALIFATO ¾) "Lo Que Me Pasa (Califato Trip Hop Remix)" ...

“Lo Que Me Pasa”, is, in its original version, the third advance single from the highly anticipated new album from Maria Rodés, and the song explores that confusing space between acceptance and denial, that moment when the heart is having trouble letting go of what is already gone. The collaboration with the flamenco artistAlbert Cases, whose passionate flamenco-style vocals add a new layer of energy to the song and create a perfect tension: the contrast between the protagonist’s raw pain and that push toward freedom. It’s a call to keep moving forward despite the sadness.

Now, “Lo Que Me Pasa” has a remix by the group CALIFATO ¾, who add their unmistakable and unique style. The remix takes the song to new heights, creating a fusion of rumba with the group’s electronic rhythms, and taking the song’s emotions to completely new ground. Because, just like in life, every time a door closes, another bigger door opens.

LISASINSON "Si Me Pierdo" Single Digital

There are new changes happening for LISASINSON but that doesn’t stop them from making music. This time, the news come in the form of an advance single – the fourth from an album that is looking to be a new peak for them to conquer. LISASINSON’s growth has been gradual: despite the ups and downs they have come across along the way, Míriam and company have slowly and smoothly sought out their sound, their identity as a group, and each new song has new and small surprises. “Si Me Pierdo” was produced by Marc Fernández and recorded by Antoni Laguna, and begins in a way that Chrissie Hynde or Debbie Harry would have loved: powerful bass, syncopated guitar, melodies that hit from the first notes, especially fluid phrasing. Then comes the explosion, that energy that characterizes them, overflowing, powerful, purifying. The chorus hits hard and immediately gets stuck in our heads. Then there’s that ending that makes us think that somehow, although they are on the recording, Marc and Paula aren’t in the group anymore. “Cuántas cosas han cambiado” (So much has changed). It breaks our hearts. Another bullseye.

After “Salgo A La Calle”, “Decidí Desaparecer” and “Quiero Que Perdamos La Cabeza (Otra Vez)”, “Si Me Pierdo” confirms LISASINSON as a group with an amazing ability to create hits, who are naturally electrifying, and who make us totally lose our heads. All of this just makes us even more impatient for this new album to get here and resolve all the unknowns.

MARIA RODÉS "Lo Que Me Pasa" Single Digital

Maria Rodés continues to shine with “Lo Que Me Pasa”, the third advance single from her highly anticipated new album. After showing us the different aspects of love, obsession, and loss on her previous singles, here Maria narrates the pain of a breakup with a song that has sad lyrics but is overflowing with ironic happiness and optimism thanks to the catchy rhythm.

“Lo Que Me Pasa” explores that confusing space between acceptance and denial, that moment when the heart is having trouble letting go of what is already gone. The collaboration with the flamenco artist Albert Cases, whose flamenco-style vocals – passionate and full of the typical clapping and shouts of encouragement – adds a new layer of energy to the song and creates a perfect tension: the contrast between the protagonist’s raw pain and that push toward freedom. It’s a call to keep moving forward despite the sadness, and without ever losing its sense of humor: “¡Pues que se vaya!” (Just let him go, then!).

The production work for “Lo Que Me Pasa”, handled by Maria and Joel Condal (co-production for BRONQUIO), continues with the contemporary rumba, with that rhythmic base that invites us to move. Here, the contrast between the carefree character of the genre and the melancholic lyrics becomes one of the song’s greatest strengths. The rumba, traditionally a festive style, turns into a reflection of the protagonist’s internal struggle between the desire to forget and the opposing desire to hold on to the memories.

The song is also included on the soundtrack of “También Esto Pasará”, the new Maria Ripoll movie, which explores the process of grief and the struggle to accept a reality that we can’t change. The connection between the song and the film is clear: both invite us to reflect on loss, the passing of time and the need to let go of what is gone.

To add yet another layer to this emotional journey, “Lo Que Me Pasa” also has a collaboration with the group CALIFATO ¾, who will add their unmistakable and unique style. The remix, which comes out a week after the song’s release, will take it to new heights, creating a fusion of rumba with the group’s electronic rhythms, and taking the song’s emotions to completely new ground. Because, just like in life, every time a door closes, another bigger door opens.

PAPA TOPO "Emasculación, La Solución" Single Digital

“Emasculación, La Solución” is the fourth and final advance single from PAPA TOPO’s second album, “Presto y con Toda la Fuerza”. Since the release of “Ópalo Negro” in 2016, Adrià has finished studying composition at the Taller de Músics in Barcelona, where he acquired the necessary technical knowledge about orchestration to be able to write the elegant and complex string and wind arrangements that he had been dreaming of since PAPA TOPO first started. This imminent new album is definitely their most ambitious and complex work to date. Despite staying true to their exaggerated, melodic, catchy pop, the group is releasing an existentialist album, full of loneliness, unease, and rage that comes from contemporary society.

“Emasculación, La Solución” is powerful, sharp and hilarious. The song takes on the topic that cuts through the whole new album: hegemonic masculinity as the origin of all the world’s evil. To the beat of a fast-paced, rave-like Spanish pasodoble, and full of the irony of Álvaro Retana’s cuplés, the song cries out against manhood and encourages all its victims to fight against it. The lyrics explain that, historically, men have defended the impenetrability of their anus as a symbol of pure virility, which turns reclaiming anal penetration into, in some way, reclaiming the symbolic elimination of the masculine – emasculation.

IBON ERRAZKIN "Nubes Y Claros" Digital Album

A few weeks ago, we brought you “Claros Del Bosque”, the new album from one of Elefant Records’ most emblematic artists: Ibon Errazkin. The once member of AVENTURAS DE KIRLIAN, LE MANS and SINGLE, is back with an exercise in exquisite musical landscaping, as he already did on his previous “Foto Aérea”. As we said when “Claros Del Bosque” was released, eight of the ten songs on that album are parts of a more extensive piece that is 61 minutes long called “Nubes Y Claros”, which includes more than half an hour of previously unreleased music that will be released this coming March 14th digitally on the usual platforms.

This piece gives new meaning to that album and adds new melodic and harmonic lines, and in their continuity creates a kind of musical narrative line that pulls you in for the whole length of the album. As Ibon explains it: “the idea that motivated me the most was the idea of composing a long piece, a format that allowed me to distribute the sounds almost as if they were elements in space, something closer to walking through a garden (or taking a good, long look a vertical garden) than to a straight listen to a regular piece of music”. It is a passionate exercise from an artist who is outside all the current styles and what he defines in some way as a digression “inspired by the hypnotic effect that certain experiences have: a composition by La Monte Young, a movie by Jacques Rivette, from the simple fact of being long”.

But this piece of music isn’t being released alone. On a trip to Tangier in 2024 with the director Antonio Morales (who has directed movies like “Marisa En Los bosques” and “Miss Futuro” as well as numerous shorts) and the director of photography Dani Lisón, who we already talked about with the music videos for “Claros Del Bosque”, they recorded images of Ibon wandering the streets in the city in slow motion, often surrounded by passersby, in a kind of walking meditation. The result is a 64-minute piece that serves as a visual thread that ties in with the route traced by “Nubes Y Claros”, and that gives the film its title. It is a tribute to the Chinese-Malaysian filmmaker Tsai Ming-Liang, who since 2014 has filmed ten movies of different lengths (known as the walker series) in which his favorite actor, Lee Kang-Shen, plays a Buddhist monk who moves slowly through the streets of cities like Tai-Pei, Marseille and Washington.

Keep your eyes peeled because the film will be released simultaneously with the music exclusively, on March 14th, on the platform Filmin. We are so excited to release this film on a platform known for supporting independent film, a worldwide rara avis.

And of course, the cover art for both the album and the movie, is the work of Javier Aramburu, who adds the clouds of this album to the forest clearings from the previous one. This is a special experience, a musical exercise for passionate listeners who enjoy every note, for cinephiles who enjoy different audiovisual experiences, and for art fans in general. Because that’s what “Nubes Y Claros” is – art.

TRACKLIST: 01 Nubes Y Claros [61 minutes long]

THE PRIMITIVES "Let's Go Round Again • Second Wave Singles & Rarities ...

There are two different periods in the history of THE PRIMITIVES. The first is the era of Lazy Records and RCA, the era of “Crash”, of the breakup in 1992. But 2011 saw the special release of a new single from the band formed by Tracy Tracy, Paul Court and Tig Williams on the prestigious indie label Fortuna Pop! That becomes the starting shot of the second period, which is marked by their signing with Elefant Records and the release of two albums, “Echoes And Rhymes” and “Spin-O-Rama”. One of the group’s defining qualities, in honor of their indie spirit, is the number of collaborations, participations, singles and lost songs that have been released in this second period. For those of you who are desperate to get their hands on some of them, we are releasing “Let\'s Go Round Again • Second Wave Singles & Rarities 2011-2025”, a double vinyl album with twenty-eight songs including previously unreleased tracks, rarities and A and B sides of vinyl singles, the majority of which are out of print.

There have been so many releases these last 14 years. From the four songs that made up that now legendary EP in 2011, “Never Kill A Secret”, to the single we advanced just a few weeks ago, “Sweet Sister Sorrow”. From the song that came out on the Girlsville compilation cassette to the singles released on the Georgia-based Happy Happy Birthday To Me (HHBTM) label, to the Part Time Punks radio session that they released themselves on an EP (and which also came out as a commemorative vinyl single for the 30th anniversary tour in Japan for their album “Lovely”). And of course, there are countless singles, maxis, vinyls and other songs (like that gem for the Christmas album we put out in 2012) released on Elefant Records.

The collection of hits is unquestionable. From the “shalalala” of “Lose The Reason” to the sixties jangle spirit of “Spin-O-Rama”, from the pop dissonance of “I’ll Trust The Wind” to the irresistible riff of “Oh Honey Sweet”, from the powerful garage of “Don’t Know Where To Start” to the frontier spirit of Nancy Sinatra that comes out on “Need All The Help I Can Get”, from the rhythm & blues of “Can’t Stop The Want” to the punk ye-ye of “Squeak ‘N’ Squawk”. We could go on and on.

There are so many huge moments on one release that will come out in both digital and vinyl formats. The double vinyl will be limited-edition and two-toned – the first album is magenta and the second is blue. The colors used in the chromatic play on the album cover. Keep your eyes peeled because THE PRIMITIVES’ albums go fast.

TRACKLIST: 01 Rattle My Cage 02 Never Kill A Secret 03 Turn Off The Moon 04 Lose The Reason 05 Spin-O-Rama 06 Purifying Tone (Reworked By Modular) 07 I\'ll Trust The Wind 08 Oh Honey Sweet 09 Stop Killing Me (Live Part Time Punks Radio Session) 10 Don\'t Know Where To Start 11 I Won\'t Care 12 Sweet Sister Sorrow 13 Need All The Help I Can Get 14 Breakaway 15 Can\'t Stop The Want 16 Always Coming Back 17 Up So High 18 You Trashed My Christmas 19 Lose The Reason (Reworked By Modular) 20 Squeak \'N\' Squawk 21 Same Stuff 22 Been Hiding 23 Rattle My Cage (Paul Vocal Version) 24 Till I\'m Alive 25 Don\'t Know Where To Start (Acoustic Fuzzed Version) 26 Panic (Live Part Time Punks Radio Session) 27 Everybody Needs Somebody To Hate 28 Sweet Sister Sorrow (Symphonic Dream Pop Version)

ALPACA SPORTS: "Another Day" CD Japanese Edition by Testcard Records

A limited edition in CD format with the lyrics in Japanese and two extra tracks: “No Place I\'d Rather Be” and “Better Things To Do”. You can get a copy HERE.

We love it when some of our releases are licensed in Japan. The editions there are very careful and not only bring the music of our bands to the Japanese market in a more special way, but they are soon considered collectors’ items by music lovers all over the world. In fact, Testcard Records has just released an edition of ALPACA SPORTS\' latest album, “Another Day”, in CD format and in a limited edition with the lyrics in Japanese and two extra tracks, “No Place I\'d Rather Be” and “Better Things To Do”, which were previously released as B-sides of the album\'s advance singles. A significant album in the band\'s career, it is an emotional reflection on the change and situations that have marked the band\'s recent present, and also includes hits such as “Tomorrow I\'ll Be Fine”, “Autograph” and “Always On My Mind”.

ALPACA SPORTS is one of the most important indie pop bands in the world, and this edition is proof of that. At Elefant Records we have brought a few copies that can be bought through our website or our Bandcamp, so that those who want to have the album in CD format and in Japanese edition can do so. Don\'t delay, they\'re flying. Never better said.

FITNESS FOREVER: “Amore e Salute” released in cassette format in Japan

Cada cierto tiempo dejamos deslizar una breve noticia que avisa de algún lanzamiento en Japón que incluye canciones de grupos de Elefant Records. Esas referencias, objeto de deseo de coleccionistas y melómanos, vuelan a la velocidad de la luz. Últimamente nos hemos enamorado de la colección de Miobell Records en el formato Tanzaku, en el que han participado THE YEARNING y LA CASA AZUL. Pero ahora otro sello nipón, Testcard Records, está licenciando algunas referencias de Elefant con ediciones maravillosas.

Atención a la que os anunciamos hoy. Hablamos del último disco de FITNESS FOREVER, “Amore e Salute”, que han sacado en formato casete en una edición limitadísima de 100 copias y con una presentación especial para la ocasión. Sí, la guinda perfecta para un disco que destila ese aliento mediterráneo, para unas canciones que evocan un espíritu vintage y que están dedicadas a la figura del chansonnier, ese hombre cargado a partes iguales de edad y clase, repleto de genio, encanto, picardía y perspicacia y poseedor de una persuasiva voz.

De nuevo, hemos recibido unas pocas (¡poquísimas!) copias en Elefant Records. Se pueden comprar a través de nuestra web y en nuestro Bandcamp. No os despistéis porque no durarán.

IBON ERRAZKIN: "Claros Del Bosque" Music Video

A few weeks ago, Ibon Errazkin’s latest album, “Claros Del Bosque” came out, and today we have a new music video for you with the eponymous song that closes the album. It is a new example of acoustic delicacy (there is no percussion on this album) that takes us back to some of the harmonies and ambiances of the time of LE MANS, somewhere between hypnotism and the softest caresses. It is an experience lived in full that carries all the trademarks of one of the most unique songwriters that Spanish pop has seen, and it is part of a project focused on a longer piece that this video is part of, like many other compositions on the album. It’s exquisite.

This new video is a short from filmings from a trip to Tangier in 2024 with the director Antonio Morales (the director of films like “Marisa En Los Bosques” and “Miss Futuro”) and the director of photography Dani Lisón. It is an exercise in walking meditation, where we see our Ibon walking through the streets of the Marroquin city in slow motion while passersby cross his path at a normal speed. It is a tribute to Tsai Ming-Liang’s “walker series” in which his favorite actor to work with, Lee Kang-Shen, plays a Buddhist monk who moves slowly through the streets of cities like Tai-Pei, Marseille, and Washington.

The walk is symbolic, an exercise in abstraction, a line of connection, an artistic journey, aimless, without a destination, no defined objective beyond the walk itself. The walk that draws the clearings in the forest. In just a few days we will be able to enjoy the longer piece, that one Ibon has been telling us about, an hour of uninterrupted music and images, with some parts of “Claros Del Bosque” and many other totally new parts.

PAPA TOPO "Ven A Mis Brazos" Single Digital

“Ven a mis brazos” is the third advance single from PAPA TOPO’s second album, “Presto y con Toda la Fuerza”. This new single, which initially seems like a love song, is really about the constant apocalyptic feeling we have in today’s world. Adrià started writing it on March 14, 2020 (the day before the Spanish confinement started) and it is somehow a farewell letter to the world as we know it. The threat of a pandemic, the rise in the far-right, the dawn of AI, the spread of disinformation on social networks and climate change and its catastrophic consequences make it feel like the world as we know it is coming to an end, that the end is near, a paradigm shift is sending us into dark and terrifying unknown territory. The song repeats the cry “ven a mis brazos” (let me hold you) and claims that love for our fellow loved ones is the only thing that can protect us from this new dystopian world. Musically, however, it is quite possibly the happiest, poppiest song on the album and it reminds us of ABBA at their most Eurovision-esque.

We will be able to hear the whole album very soon, and it is the most ambitious and complex PAPA TOPO album yet, a collection of songs where diverse influences like classic impressionism, dance music, pop, punk, folklore, cuplé, and atonal music all coexist. All of that topped with elegant and complex string and wind arrangements.

MARIA RODÉS (Feat. DELAFÉ) "Hechizo" Single Digital

Some albums are a leap into a creative abyss, an exercise of deconstruction that very few artists dare to try. \"Hechizo\" is the second advance (after that “Chico Bueno” that she gave us with BRONQUIO) from a project that Maria Rodés is using to explore the deepest and most complex corners of falling in love, that state of temporary insanity that feels as good as it is necessary, in which each person sees the other as perfect. It is an ode to romantic obsession, where the line between idealized love and delirium blurs, overflowing the limits of what we thought was possible.

\"Hechizo\" slides between syncopated contemporary reggeaton rhythms and the atmospheric sophistication of French electronica. This duality is not a coincidence: it reflects the tension that is inherent to the song’s central theme, where the physical and the transcendental intertwine. Under the production work of Maria and Joel Condal, with co-production by ZABALA and BRONQUIO, the sound manages to maintain a balance between the carnal and the ethereal, without falling into cliché. The song is also part of the soundtrack for \"También Esto Pasará\", the new movie from Maria Ripoll that will be released this spring, and which Maria Rodés has composed original music for with Simon Smith, in addition to adding several songs to her repertoire.

There’s still more – for this declaration of love and devotion, Maria is collaborating with Óscar D\'Aniello (DELAFÉ), whose thematic affinity (Óscar is also back with a new album, “Amor”, with his old project DELAFÉ Y LAS FLORES AZULES) increases the intensity. Together they encapsulate the euphoria and fragility of a human connection that consumes and transforms, where every kiss acts as a catalyst for the magical and inevitable.

The climax of this creative exercise is that “Hechizo” is being released with an exquisite animated music video by Néstor F. who worked with Maria before on the country album she released with LA ESTRELLA DE DAVID.

In the face of something so amazing, we at Elefant Records are trembling at the thought of the album that is coming. This is definitely a radical, exciting, daring turning point, and it is growing out of the earth that only true artists come from, the quicksand that hides the comfort zones. Dare to step into the \"Hechizo\" and let yourself fall into its magic.

CRISTINA QUESADA: Telonera de THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART en su gira de febrero y marzo 2025

Kip Berman (cantante, guitarrista y compositor principal de THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART) ha seleccionado personalmente a Cristina Quesada para que sea su telonera en la gira que los traerá a tierras ibéricas a principios de 2025. Aquí va el calendario e itinerario de ese tour: el 19 de febrero en Oporto (Mouco, dentro del ciclo SON Estrella Galicia), el 20 en A Coruña (Garufa Club, dentro del ciclo SON Estrella Galicia), el 21 en Oviedo (Almacenes), el 22 en Tarragona (Sala Zero), el 23 en Madrid (Lula Club, dentro del ciclo Jaguar), el 24 en Sevilla (Sala X), el 26 en Murcia (Sala REM), el 27 en València (16 Toneladas), el 28 en Barcelona (Razzmatazz 2), el 1 de marzo en Zaragoza (Las Armas, dentro del ciclo SON Estrella Galicia) y el 2 en San Sebastián (Dabadaba).

Quesada, que ya cuenta con tres álbumes a su nombre –“You Are The One” (2015), “Think I Heard A Rumour” (2019) y “Dentro al tuo sogno” (2022)-, así como también con otros tantos EPs -“Pineapple Princess” (2013), “Hero” (2019) y “Per te e per me” (2022)- , siempre ligada a Elefant Records, factura un pop que funde con la chanson y el eurodisco (con querencia por Italia y Francia), con el j-pop, el pop de los 60, el C-86 y las canciones que su hermana mayor, Dara, le hizo conocer de nombres como Los Flechazos, Los Fresones Rebeldes o La Casa Azul. No se prodiga mucho en directo, pero ha recorrido medio mundo con su deliciosa voz y sus maravillosas canciones, no faltó en muchas de las añoradas fiestas de “Flor de Pasión”, el programa de radio 3 de Juan de Pablos, participó en festivales como el Wales Goes Pop! en Cardiff (Gales), Festival Indietracks en Derbyshire (Inglaterra), NYC Popfest (Nueva York), en Paris, una mini gira por Japón y varios conciertos por España.

Por otra parte, os recordamos que el tour de febrero y marzo de The Pains Of Being Pure At Heartles va a servir para conmemorar el 15º aniversario de su disco de debut. No giraban juntos con su primera y recordada alineación desde que en 2012 acabaron el tour de su segundo disco, “Belong” (2011). Después siguieron grabando y girando, pero con otros componentes y varios cambios en su formación, hasta que se anunció su disolución oficial en 2019. Así que en este tour de principios del año que viene subirán al escenario Kip Berman (cantante, guitarrista y compositor principal), Peggy Wang (teclista), Christoph Hochheim (guitarra) y Kurt Feldman (batería). No ha podido unirse a la cita Alex Naidus (“por estar atendiendo muy buenas cuestiones personales”, ha dicho Berman), así que del bajo se ocupará Eddy Marshall, quien también se encarga de ese instrumento en The Natvral, el proyecto que Kip lidera desde hace cinco años.

“Tocaremos entero nuestro primer disco y también algunas canciones de aquella época. Gracias a todos los que han hecho esto posible. Es más que impresionante que haya gente que todavía se acuerda tanto de ese disco y quiero vernos tocarlo. No sé si haremos más veces esto en el futuro. Pero por ahora estamos encantados de tener esta oportunidad de poder volver a interpretar juntos estas canciones que, bastante literalmente, cambiaron nuestras vidas”, ha comentado Berman.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart comenzaron su singladura allá por 2007. Compartían admiración por bandas como Smashing Pumpkins, The Field Mice, Black Tambourine y Nirvana, y supieron hacer pasar todo eso por un cedazo que los llevó a triunfar, dentro y fuera de su país, teniendo como brújula a The Jesus And Mary Chain o My Bloody Valentine, pero sin olvidarse de The Smiths. Composiciones románticas con fuzz guitarrero algo neurótico y melodías con mucha resonancia emocional. Noise-pop que enganchaba, fresco, que no ocultaba sus limitaciones porque así no escondía su gran bandera, la de la juventud.

Primero llamaron la atención en MySpace (sí, hablamos de esos tiempos) y con su primer EP, de 2007 y autoeditado, pero cuando en 2009 salió su homónimo LP de debut en el sello Slumberland Records, canciones como “Contender”, “Come Saturday” y “This Love Is Fucking Right” volaron ya bien alto, con reseñas en webs como Pitchfork y Stereogum remachando la jugada. El segundo disco, el al principio mencionado “Belong”, aún hizo más grande y alta su ola. Fue en marzo de aquel 2011 donde, si no nos falla la memoria, dieron nada menos que once conciertos en el South By Southwest de Austin. Igual alguno más. Ahí ya habían reclutado a Kurt Feldman como batería. Fue su dream team. Llegaron al # 92 en Billboard 200 y también fueron Top 100 en países como Bélgica, Francia, Reino Unido… y España. Pero para cuando se alzó el telón de su tercer álbum, “Days Of Abandon” (2014), Peggy Wang y Alex Naidus habían dejado de formar parte de la formación. Con una influencia creciente de la nueva ola y el pop ochenteros, siguieron publicando trabajos -léase los discos “The Echo Of Pleasure” (2017) y una versión al completo del álbum de Tom Petty “Full Moon Ferver” en 2019, así como un par de EPS-, con diferentes músicos acompañando tanto en el estudio como en el escenario a Kip Berman, que se quedó al timón como único capitán del barco Y en noviembre de 2019 Berman anunció el fin de The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, con él iniciando a partir de ahí un nuevo proyecto en solitario, The Natvral.

ENTRADAS Y TICKETS AQUÍ

MADDIE MAE "Medusa" Digital Single

It has been a few months since “Wildflower” came out, but Maddie Mae’s debut album keeps giving us things to talk about, and “Medusa” is the new single from that first album. The sinuous back and forth between the syncopated bass and Maddie Mae’s sweet voice creates the perfect, mysterious, sinuous ambiance, in line with artists like Lorde and Lana Del Rey. We are releasing the song as a Digital Single along with a music video directed by Chris Croft (who has directed music videos for THE YEARNING, BMX BANDITS, THE PRIMITIVES and SUNLIT) which shows Maddie with a certain esoteric, magical air, full of witchcraft and at the same time elegant and delicate.

On February 14, Netflix releases the fourth and final season of “Valeria”, and “Medusa” is on the soundtrack for the first episode. We could also see Maddie herself recently in the Amazon movie “Your Fault” (the second part of the hit trilogy based on the books by Mercedes Ron and directed by Domingo González). The main character, Nicole Wallace, has “Polaroid Love” on her phone, because it’s one of her favorite artists, and her boyfriend, played by Gabriel Vergara, surprises her with a romantic dinner that includes a private performance from Maddie.

To wrap up this collection of news, we wanted to let you know that Maddie is working with Joe Moore again on songs for Maddie Mae, but also for THE YEARNING, the group she debuted in the music world with when she was only 14 years old, and which brought her to stages in Spain, England, and Japan.

THE PRIMITIVES "Sweet Sister Sorrow" Single Digital

A lot of people think that THE PRIMITIVES’ trajectory is limited to two albums since 2011, when that Single on Fortuna Pop! brought them back to musical activity. But Tracy Tracy’s band, making the most of their indie spirit, has been constantly releasing songs on different labels and for different projects that they are always willing to inspire and take part in. The proof will be a new double (!!) vinyl of singles and rarities called “Let\'s Go Round Again • Second Wave Singles & Rarities 2011-2025”. It is a real gem for everyone who follows their releases, and a really complete piece of work for those fans of the contagious music of the authors of “Crash”.

As an advance, we are bringing you a new and previously unreleased song. Well, technically, two. “Sweet Sister Sorrow” is a previously unreleased track that we have two very different versions of. The original, which shows off their extremely catchy and more electric side, with that pop spirit overflowing out of every “do do do do dooo” that Tracy Tracy sings. It’s delicious. And the second is more acoustic, precious, and introspective, giving a different feeling to those lines like “She knows all the hurt in your heart”, defined by the subtitle “Symphonic Dream Pop Version” and those exciting orchestral arrangements. The same song taking you to two totally different places, and both are absolutely marvelous.

Obviously we couldn’t not do a music video for each of the versions, and this responsibility couldn’t fall in better hands: Pooley, from Woom Studio, who has also been behind for those incredible music videos that the creativity just pours out off for LE SUPERHOMARD, Giorgio Tuma, FITNESS FOREVER, A GIRL CALLED EDDY, LINDA GUILALA, Cristina Quesada and JULIE ET JOE, gives each version a different approach: the first is more colorful, the second plays with greys; both have Victorian and baroque themes. These are two new delicacies that play constantly with textures, changes of axis and unusually framed shots.

Get ready – twenty-eight incredible songs by THE PRIMITIVES are coming soon on a Double-LP.

TRACKLIST: 01 Sweet Sister Sorrow 02 Sweet Sister Sorrow (Symphonic Dream Pop Version)

LISASINSON "Quiero Que Perdamos La Cabeza (Otra Vez) (David Van Bylen Remix)" ...

Another stage in LISASINSON’s career is closing and we are starting 2025 with a new year of changes. The infinite cycle. But there are ways to do things and then there are ways, and LISASINSON put their all into everything they do and into this remix of their latest hit, “Quiero Que Perdamos La Cabeza (Otra Vez)”, at the hands of David Van Bylen. One of the top remixers on the national indie scene, “the man who turned national indie music into dance music”, makes the song his own with this smash hit and mixes it all up to blow up the dance floor with a rush, an irresistible hit.

There is no doubt that this man from Mallorca living in Santander is at the top of his game. He has played in clubs and at festivals all over Spain: Bilbao BBK Live, Sonorama, Low Festival, Arenal Sound, Warm Up, Ebrovisión, Polifonik Sound and a long list of etceteras. He has remixed groups like DORIAN, SECOND, ZAHARA and RUSSIAN RED, to name just a few. He is a producer and has participated in multiple movie soundtracks, with a special mention for his collaboration on “Combustión” by Daniel Calparsoro.

So, get ready to dance to this incredible song on every dance floor it plays on. And, of course, as a highlight of LISASINSON concerts.

In the meantime, LISASINSON are very excited to be working on the songs that will be on their new album, which we have already heard the first three advance singles from, and which is looking like it’s going to be full of surprises.

LA CASA AZUL: Miobell Records Compilation (Japan)

A few months ago, thanks to the appearance of THE YEARNING on one of the marvelous compilations from the Japanese record label Miobell Records, we told you about the Tanzaku, an 8-centimeter CD format with very special and unique packaging, adored by collectors, that is only released in Japan. Miobell is continuing with their work and are releasing a new compilation in this format as part of their “Blue Tention” collection. This is the third volume already, and it has six fantastic songs.

Once again, the release is exquisite, with an insert with pictures, credits, comments from the artists, and lyrics, and includes such an incredible selection of groups as THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, BMX BANDITS, SWINGING POPSICLE, Hideki Kaji, ADVANTAGE LUCY and - don’t miss it – our beloved LA CASA AZUL. In this case, “Podría Ser Peor” has been chosen to be included on this special selection. The result is an absolute collector’s item (like the whole collection is). Soon it will be an impossible-to-get object of desire.

ALPACA SPORTS "Another Day" LP

So much has happened since ALPACA SPORTS released “From Paris With Love” in 2018. There have been new cities to live in, new chapters in their lives, health problems and loved ones lost. All of these circumstances have led, almost unintentionally, to “Another Day”, their conceptual new album about what change brings. The songs celebrate the few spare moments of calm and contemplation when we find ourselves in the midst of an immense shift. They dwell in the hazy spaces and golden hours when the day turns into night, when summer becomes fall, and all the other in-betweens in our lives that are full of fears, doubts, hopes and dreams. This kind of fragile and heartbreaking beauty, that is so surprisingly powerful at the same time, is what we get from the group formed by Andreas Jonsson, Amanda Åkerman and Lisle Mitnik (TINY FIREFLIES, FIREFLIES, VERY TRULY YOURS...).

It\'s not that the group stopped working after their last release, but the changes they experienced did affect in some way the songs that Andreas and Lisle had been working on, and caused a bunch of unexpected mutations, which made this full length take a lot longer than expected to complete. Ian Catt himself (ANOTHER SUNNY DAY, THE FIELD MICE, SAINT ETIENNE, TREMBLING BLUE STARS, SHAMPOO...) took advantage of this situation to challenge the group to take their music to new levels, pushing their most danceable facet (“Always On My Mind”, “Slipping Through My Fingertips”) or perfecting even more (if it’s even possible) their vocal arrangements (“Tonight”, “Break My Heart”). The band maintains their incredible ability to make us smile while they talk about bitter things (“Tomorrow I’ll Be Fine”, “Waiting For The Right Time”), but they also talk about those small, beautiful details that ultimately turn into something tremendously beautiful (“If Tomorrow Comes” and “Autograph”).

Once again, Ray Kimura is in charge of creating the album’s visuals, and there are also live drums from Hampus Öhman-Frölund (which was recorded again in New York by Gary Olson, of THE LADYBUG TRANSISTOR), stellar vocal harmony collaborations from Cristina Quesada, and the precious participation of Georgie, Ian Catt’sdaughter, on the choruses of “If Tomorrow Comes”.

“Another Day”, which is being released as a limited-edition, transparent vinyl, will probably be the most existential, intimate and exciting album in ALPACA SPORTS’ trajectory, which is saying quite a lot. Enjoy it in every possible aspect – they triumph in every single one.

TRACKLIST: 01 Tomorrow I\'ll Be Fine 02 Always On My Mind 03 Tell Me 04 Autograph 05 Bluebells 06 Slipping Through My Fingertips 07 Break My Heart 08 Tonight 09 Waiting For The Right Time 10 If Tomorrow Comes

MADDIE MAE in "Culpa Tuya" film

This past December 27th, Amazon Prime released “Culpa Tuya”, the second part of the trilogy based on the novels by Mercedes Ron and directed by Domingo González. The first part surprised everyone by reaching number 1 worldwide on Amazon Prime, and the premiere of this second part, which took place on December 18th, was one of the events of the year. The premiere made it possible for six thousand people to see the film before anyone else, and the event was a massive hit. All the fandom developing these past few months mobilized because they wanted to be the first to see “Culpa Tuya” and this brought people from all ends of the earth together in the crazed crowd at Palacio Vistalegre (Madrid), where the screening took place.

Here at Elefant, we have a small role in this new movie thanks to our artists. First, Maddie Mae. Our beloved singer’s music appears in two different moments in the movie. At the beginning, when Noah (played by Nicole Wallace) is in the pool and we can see she’s enjoying “Polaroid Love” on her phone, and again later when Nick (Gabriel Vergara) tries to surprise her with a romantic dinner that includes an exclusive performance by Maddie herself. Yes – Maddie is actually in the film, playing herself!

Second, a few days ago we gave you Soleá Morente’s new advance “Con Los Nudillos”, produced by Guille Milkyway (LA CASA AZUL) and which will be included on that highly anticipated and very special album they are working on together. It is an exercise in intense flamenco passion, cynicism, and pop sophistication set to a rumba beat. In “Culpa Tuya” there’s a moment when this song takes center stage, at Nick’s father’s company’s 50th anniversary party.

To top it all off, just like in the first part, Adriana Ubani, half of our beloved PIPIOLAS, is in the movie again, this time playing Nick’s ex-girlfriend, who organizes clandestine races.

In just a few months the final piece of the trilogy, “Culpa Nuestra”, will be out. Stay tuned!