The White Stripes – Elephant (2003/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

The White Stripes – Elephant (2003/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 50:52 minutes | 1,58 GB | Genre: Alternative Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Legacy Recordings

If you own at least one of the three White Stripes albums released so far, you can pretty much imagine how it will sound again this time: Especially after lo-fi, a lot of rock’n’roll, a bit of blues and a large portion of charm and idiosyncrasy. Thus, the expectations of the Detroit couple are also fully met. And yet the British press has been upside down ever since it heard the first sound of “Elephant”.

The album again offers a lot of small, but fine melodies, which quickly anchor themselves in the ear canal and like to linger there a little. Unfortunately, the album drops dramatically in the middle. The long-winded bluestrack “Ball And Biscuit” pours itself into an eternal seeming repetition of the guitar riff. Even “Little Acrons”, a driven and rushed song that ponders how to deal with problems, quickly gets boring.

Admittedly, it takes a few attempts until the pieces grab the listener. Then, however, the pearls under them no longer want to disappear from the ear. Such a one is “Seven Nation Army” – Opener and first single release at the same time. A compact song with catchy melody and its own dynamics.

“There’s No Home For You Here” captivates with a haunting and-common melody, loud-quiet contrasts keep the tension. A mature song structure makes the track appear as a round whole despite its rawness. The vocals oscillate between talking, screaming and fragile vocals. That sounds like a relationship crisis … or just enormously good.

The outstanding cover version of Burt Bacharach’s “I Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” manages to combine the best of the piece with everything that makes the White Stripes. The song sounds like sincere desire, despair and rearing up. Also” Cold, Cold Night”, sung for the first time by Meg with crystal clear voice, convinces as a mixture between singer-songwriter and blues. The good songs on “Elephant” are just so good, so that you like to hear over one or the other lame number.

Despite the fact that the fourth work of the White Stripes does not change much, Meg and Jack White have conjured up great things again with minimal means: This album is somehow different and in its own way very lovable.

Tracklist:
01. The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army (03:52)
02. The White Stripes – Black Math (03:03)
03. The White Stripes – There’s No Home For You Here (03:43)
04. The White Stripes – I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself (02:46)
05. The White Stripes – In The Cold, Cold Night (02:58)
06. The White Stripes – I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother’s Heart (03:20)
07. The White Stripes – You’ve Got Her In Your Pocket (03:40)
08. The White Stripes – Ball and Biscuit (07:18)
09. The White Stripes – The Hardest Button to Button (03:32)
10. The White Stripes – Little Acorns (04:09)
11. The White Stripes – Hypnotize (01:48)
12. The White Stripes – The Air Near My Fingers (03:40)
13. The White Stripes – Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine (03:17)
14. The White Stripes – Well It’s True That We Love One Another (03:39)

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