Despite the cancellation of SXSW and, consequently, Elephant Stone’s nine SX gigs, band leader Rishi Dhir is keeping busy under quarantine by taking to his band ES’s Facebook Live stream every month for an interactive Sacred Sounds Session, where he plays sitar and engages fans with a Q&A. But right before quarantine, his project dropped an intriguing loose single to comfort us through the uncertain times that would lie ahead.
“During the writing of this track, I was listening to a lot of Yo La Tengo, specifically And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out,” he shares of “Fox on the Run. “I loved the hypnotic element to their tunes.” The serenity of the lyrics, on the other hand, came from a place on anxiety, which has only become more intense over the past month. “I kept hearing reports about ICE agents taking people away in the middle of the night—people who have been in America for years and worked hard…only to be now targeted by Trump and his cronies. The song was written from the perspective of someone who just wants to be somewhere safe and with their family.”
Channelling this hypnotic feeling, the band is revealing the official “Fox” music video today, which director Vince Gauthier aptly describes as “a visual companion to the song’s playful rhythms juxtaposed against a serene portrayal of the protagonist, untroubled by the chaos tearing at the fabric of his world.” It’s easy to get lost in, as Dhir’s distorted physique gets swallowed up by pulsing psychedelic imagery.
Watch the video below, and stay up to date with the band’s live stream schedule on their Facebook page.
