Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Elifantree: Time Out

3

Elifantree: Time Out

By

View read count
Elifantree: Time Out
From the opening whoop from Elifantree's singer and principle songwriter, Anni Elif Egecioglu,Time Out presents itself as something mysterious. As the name of the trio elliptically suggests, Egecioglu is the principle focus, with saxophonist Pauli Lyytinen and drummer Tatu Rönkkö making up the "tree."

In comparison with its well-received debut, Love and Trees (Eclipse, 2010), Time Out is something of a return to the fold of convention, but very much Elifantree's own type of experimental, pop-influenced mainstream. Despite the predominance of voice, sax and drums, some archetypal synth and keyboards slip into the mix on ''Where's Your Courage,'' with the echo effect on Lyytinen's saxophone frequently turned way up. If comparisons between Egecioglu's mezzo-soprano and Tori Amos are accepted, the so, too, must a similarity to nu-wave French vocalist Jeanne Added, who has been described as a female Captain Beefheart in her enthusiasm to sing around or even through a melody. Egecioglu shows similar disrespect for melodic conventions, and uses the versatility of her voice to emphasize the roles which she plays through her lyrics. It's a style that takes a little getting used to.

Many of the songs form an internal dialogue, where Egecioglu leads Lyytinen and Rönkkö in chasing down the ideas that flow from "that girl" highlighted in the lyrics. Thankfully there is relief from the intricacies of this internal dialogue with some punchy upbeat songs like "Puppet Show" and the closing title track. As writer Stuart Nicholson observed in 2009, this is a band well-endowed with performance skills—even showmanship. Time Out gives plenty of scope for live interpretation, turning the opaqueness of Elifantree's lyrics and approach into a show that meets a younger audience right on its level.

Track Listing

Tic Toc; That Girl; Where's Your Courage; The eye; She's Changed; Waiting; Puppet Show; How About a Little Love; Time Out.

Personnel

Elifantree
saxophone

Anni Elif Egecioglu: vocals, glockenspiel, cello, grand piano; Pauli Lyytinen: tenor saxophones, effects, synthesizer, toy piano; Tatu Rönkkö: drums, percussion, water drum.

Album information

Title: Time Out | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Eclipse Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.