Ahead of his band’s new album, Omens, arriving on April 24, Elder guitarist and vocalist Nick DiSalvo stops by Inside Music for a chat.
Defining the work of Elder is a difficult task. Critics have hailed the New England band’s musical output as stoner rock, while others lean towards terms like experimental or even avant-garde. Rather than add to the growing pile of buzzwords, we choose to describe the band as a rock act that is always searching for the next great riff. Elder creates music for people who like rock and roll, and they never concern themselves too much with having commercial appeal or song length. In fact, their new full-length record contains just five tracks.
Omens, Elder’s first album in several years, is an unintentionally timely release. The group wrote the loosely conceptual album about seeking escapism in an increasingly perilous time many months before anyone head the term COVID-19 or coronavirus. The fact such a record is arriving while millions are beginning to feel a pinch of economic and isolation-stress is a silver lining neither the band nor their fans, could have anticipated.
Between the thunderous drums and stunning guitar work, Elder finds several grooves amidst the darkness of Omens that fans will not want to leave. It’s the kind of record the makes you feel less alone. How the band manages to convey that sense of comfort in a project birthed from thoughts of chaos is beyond us, but a knack for delivering the unpredictable one of the many surprising joys of Elder’s work.
On this episode of Inside Music, Elder vocalist and guitarist Nick DiSalvo chats with host James Shotwell from his home in Berlin. Nick tells James about Germany’s coverage of America’s battle with the coronavirus, as well as how his life has (and has not) changed throughout the current pandemic. James and Nick also discuss Omens, finding new creative challenges, and what lies ahead for a band uncertain when the industry will quote/unquote “return to normal.”
