From the outskirts of Chicago, USA, the Elephant March has crafted a distinct sound which is difficult to place within a specific genre. Sharing lead vocal and songwriting responsibilities, the creative engine of J. Wood and Matthew Redden is a partnership spanning several years between solo efforts, side projects and different iterations of the band itself. If the music can be characterized as art for art’s sake, then its purpose may be understood as an answer to a call. Often described as alternative or underground rock, they have drawn significant inspiration from auditory hallucinations, the cradle from which much of their compelling material has been forged. The duo has yielded a small mountain of songs, some of which have been lost in the ether and some that are locked away in the vault. But the debut record Greetings from Hypnagogia has arrived. Recorded and produced in Wood’s home studio, the album displays their deep reverence for the dreamlike tones of vintage synths and warm fuzz of analog guitar pedals while creating a musical dichotomy that spans from dizzying and eccentric to haunting and whimsical. Like slipping in between states of consciousness, the imagery and lyrical content is intimate, distorted, jarring, even a bit unsettling. Weaving childhood nostalgia with warped illustrations from a lucid dreamscape, the Elephant March coalesces their varied musical backgrounds to deliver a uniquely familiar experience and a respite from the conventional.