The singles leading up to Montreal psych-rockers Elephant Stone’s new album have been pretty heavy so far: Lead single “Evil Everything” introduced ASHA with a raw punk rager, while “Fascists Killed Yer Rock ’n’ Roll” dipped its toes in stoner metal. Now, the third taste of the LP eases off the brooding instrumentals and dark lyricism—well, at least on the surface, anyway. “I Got a Pill” maintains the band’s deepest psychedelic instincts while stretching their sound into the realm of radio-ready rock embellished with sitar, tabla, and Hammond organ. Meanwhile, Rishi Dhir’s lyrics sound hopeful as he shills the titular pill which, as you can imagine, may not possess the regenerative effects it advertises. “It’s about demagogues, the populist playbook,” Dhir shares. “Leaders who feed on people’s fear and offer an easy fix. The pill. Take it and your problems go away. Except it doesn’t work like that. It’s control dressed up as relief.”
Tapping Adam Traynor and a cast of puppets for the track’s music video, the filmmaker explains that his goal was to match the band’s blend of family-friendly pop-rock with some darker undercurrents. “The lyrics to ‘I Got a Pill’ woo and warn all at once,” he notes. “I wanted to put the sweetness of that voice into the mouth of a Tony the Tiger–type mascot with a special breakfast gift for kids that would be sure to kick off a trip into a sugary Wonderland, a cardboard Oz, an awe-inducing game-world of artificial colors, a Dark Crystal quest for power, a Soylent Green feeding frenzy.”
Check out the clip below, and pre-order ASHA ahead of the album’s release on August 28 here. Additionally, you can catch the band when they hit the road in September for a North American tour at the dates listed here.
