Elephant Stone Releases ASHA Album, Announces Tour to Kick Off Next Month
Frontman Rishi Dhir named the record after his late mother, whose name means hope in Sanskrit.
Montreal's Elephant Stone released their highly anticipated 10th studio album ASHA via Elephants On Parade. Named after the late mother of frontman Rishi Dhir – Asha means 'Hope' in Sanskrit – the album is a meditation on grief, hope, and the friction between sorrow and the darkness of these times. ASHA is available on streaming services and limited edition signed and hand-numbered vinyl is available here via Little Cloud Records.
Alongside the release, Elephant Stone shared the single + video 'Parallel and Contrary Motion,' first premiered via Under the Radar. Sitting at the heart of the album, the track serves as its emotional centerpiece – an intimate reflection on the strange space between loss and acceptance. Sonically, it blends the psychedelic whimsy of The Flaming Lips, the '70s glam-rock crunch of David Bowie, and the soaring psychedelia of Tame Impala, creating a sound that feels both nostalgic and transcendent.
Rishi Dhir explains, ''Parallel and Contrary Motion' is the emotional center of this record for me. Musically it's something I'd been chipping away at for a couple of years. The title actually came from one of my daughter's piano books. I liked it as a phrase before I knew what the song was about.'
He continues, 'Lyrically it started as something for my friend Christian Dorey. He'd always dealt with anxiety and depression, but it became paralyzing for him during COVID. He lived about an hour and a half from me, in Bromont. A few years ago he attempted suicide. I wanted to be there for him but he told me he wasn't ready to see me. Last year he took his life. I wrote more about him and what happened here. This song was written before I understood what it was actually about.'
John Mark Lapham, director of the accompanying music video, says, 'Rishi sent me Elephant Stone's new album to check out and this track immediately stood out to me. It felt like the 70's shot through a modern lens and had a chorus that I couldn't shake. Not long after, he asked if I'd like to make a video for it and it seemed fated. He initially asked about me creating an animated video but I already had some imagery that bubbled up with this song: a man in the process of dying but was in need of a little push to help let go. The concept was definitely a different spin on the lyrics (I think...) but the music and the visuals of this creature were haunting me and so I pulled a team together and we shot the video in the middle of the Texas summer at an old power plant in Abilene. It was a fantastic experience.'
At the heart of Montreal's Elephant Stone is Rishi Dhir, a songwriter and sitarist who has spent twenty years blurring the lines between Western psych-pop and Indian classical tradition. What began in 2006 as a quest for transcendental sound has evolved into a singular, self-contained vision. Operating out of his Montreal home studio, Sacred Sounds, Dhir has emerged as a true studio auteur – producing, engineering, and mixing the band's increasingly complex and cinematic output.
While the band's reputation was built on airtight pop craftsmanship and spiritual exploration, their recent work – anchored by longtime members Miles Dupire, Robbie MacArthur, and Jason Kent – possesses a new, raw intensity. It is a sound forged through Dhir's deep collaborative history with icons like The Black Angels, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Beck, as well as his role in the psych-supergroup MIEN.
With a discography spanning 10 acclaimed releases, Elephant Stone remains at the forefront of the modern movement, constantly deconstructing the past to find something visceral, haunting, and undeniably human in the present.
In support of their new album, Elephant Stone have also announced new tour dates across Europe and the UK this fall, going on sale today at 10am local time. The band will also be embarking on a North American tour kicking off next month. Dates and tickets for all shows are available here.
Tracklist
1. Here Comes The Rising Sun
2. Everything Evil
3. Fascists Killed Yer Rock 'N' Roll
4. I Got A Pill
5. Broken Arrow
6. A Beautiful Fate
7. Parallel and Contrary Motion
8. Sleepwalking In Prague
9. Spirit, Take Me Away (feat. Amy Millan)
Tour Dates
Sept 15 Burlington, VT @ Foam Brewers
Sept 16 Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar
Sept 17 Troy, NY @ No Fun
Sept 18 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
Sept 19 Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong
Sept 20 State College, PA @ Manny's
Sept 22 Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village
Sept 23 Detroit, MI @ Outer Limits
Sept 24 Toronto, ON @ Collective Arts
Oct 1 Montreal, QC @ Bar le Ritz
Nov 2 Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Nov 3 Breda, NL @ Mezz
Nov 4 Paris, FR @ Le Chinois
Nov 6 Ravenna, IT @ Bronson
Nov 7 Colle Val D'Elsa, IT @ Sonar
Nov 11 Zurich, CH @ TBA
Nov 12 Bern, CH @ Kulturbistro
Nov 16 London, UK @ MOTH Club
Nov 17 Leeds, UK @ Hide Park Book Club
Nov 20 Portsmouth, UK @ KOLA basement
Nov 21 Brussels, BE @ Botanique
Photo Credit: Bowen Stead | Hi-res here
Photo Credit: Bowen Stead | Hi-res here
