Written by: Dave Cantrell
Y’know that yearning you sometimes have – if not oftentimes have given the course of history at the moment – to hear some version of that perfect, intuitive, intelligent pop that you first heard back in the late 70s into the early 90s from, say, the likes of Orange Juice, the Weather Prophets or the Jazz Butcher (among dozens of others), those songs that float off in to an autumnal ether while errant daydreams of an elusive, hoped-for love affair flutter invisibly in the breeze, ghostly but ever ever so present? Well, allow us to introduce you to one of Athens GA’s most-loved Elephant 6 bands the Rishis. They’ve been hovering near the top of our pop radar since their arrival in 2022 with debut album August Moon, a debut that’s been permanently stashed within reach of the SEM turntable ever since that fateful date, and while we’re going to step aside and let the label/band guide you through both the history of the Rishis and a track-by-track breakdown of this latest (released Feb. 21st on Cloud Recordings), allow us to at least say that to whatever extent the 2025 ‘best-of’ race has been slowly simmering into its early stages, we’re sufficiently stunned by this buoyant pop contagion of an album to go so far as to say the gauntlet has been thrown down. Yep, it’s that strong. But don’t take our word for it, have a quick listen or twelve. This thing grows on you by the second from the very first…(and we’ve made the easy editorial decision to present the album itself first followed by the track-by-track and a quick but wholly informative bio)
TRACK BY TRACK
BAND SYNOPSIS:
The Rishis are an Elephant 6 band from Athens, GA, comprising of the duo of Sofie Lute and Ranjan Avasthi
and their rotating cast of musician pals who flesh out their live performance pieces and add coloring to the
mandala on their records. This sophomore release touches on political themes of the turbulent times that we
live in, and the record tells the stories of people who have lost their identities, homelands, and voices.
Themes of hope and liberation are also deeply ingrained in these songs moving the listener forward to higher
levels.
TRACK LISTING
1. COLORING: is an ode to the 60’s when it seemed anything was possible. It is a story on aging and the
intricacies of how time is perceived. Is life just simply light directions bouncing off of our photo
receptors that create these scenes in our lives, or are we capable of accessing deeper levels of
consciousness as we continue to expand and grow? Overdubs recorded at the historied Shangri-La
Studios in Malibu, CA.
2. MILES: Tells the tale of fragile and fleeting youth and time spent watching the years unfold never
wasting precious minutes in haste. The sugar sweet backbeat harkens to days of double-dutch jump
rope on the school playground and late night cruising the streets in an old Chevy Impala with 10”
woofers rattling the fillings in our candy riddled teeth as the sounds of A Tribe Called Quest floats
dreamily away.
3. BUFFALO: Cries for the long-lost buffalo that used to roam and nibble on those delicious blue stems.
Buffalo shot for sport, buffalo whose bones were sold as firewood, buffalo who lost the right to live
free. It also sings the lost songs of indigenous children forced into “American Indian Residential
Schools” to become ‘assimilated’ into civilized society and forcibly stripped of their culture. Robert
Schneider was asked to imagine the saddest of horn parts to elevate this song and send it soaring as
a protest song for all who have lost their voices and have had their lands and identities stolen.
4. RIDE: Weaves the forlorn tale of lost lovers falling into the traps of the ego and fleeing the societal
constraints of what normalcy is while choosing the life of the vagabond always on the run, always
searching for fertile ground. Scott Spillane’s signature mellophone brings into focus the solitary life
on the trail.
5. NITE: Harkens back to the 80’s with its lilting finger picked guitar and Andrew Rieger’s ending solo
reminiscent of the Cure and all its new-wave glory rounding out the 1st side of this self-titled record.
6. CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES: Opens the B side of this LP with crunchy guitars and searing solo by
MERGE Record’s Mac McCaughan. The song eloquently illustrating the snares of life and the
downfall of jilted lovers and the webs of a black widow as the writer sat and watched the
arachnids in their natural habitat.
7. ROBOT FACTORY: Warns of being lulled into a pleasant yet shallow sea of distraction. The
song is a wakeup call to the listener to break free from the all-encompassing allure of
unrestricted consumerism and the shackles of constant digital connection as these fallacies may
prove to be your own self-imposed robot factories. Adding texture to the palate, Robbee
Cucciaro’s wild electronic elephant notes on trombone, tuba, and trumpet add an acid jazz sheen to the wall of distortion laid down by Mac
McCaughan of Superchunk.
8. DHARAMSALA: Depicts the plight of the Tibetan people as they fled their homes to find refuge amongst
the Indian people. It is a reminder of what happens when a country’s sovereignty is taken from them
but still, hope exists amongst the people who share their stories and preserve their culture for future
generations.
9. STRATOSPHERE: Sings the airy songs of children swinging in the sunshine and trying to learn how they
can run free, unburdened by gravity and all the weights that adults carry upon their backs.
10. RISHIKESH: This raga-esque piece was recorded live to try and capture the interplay between the
eastern tunings of Ranjan Avasthi’s guitar to the hammerings of Peter Alvanos’ thundering drums.
Rishikesh is a holy place in India’s foothills of the Himalayas where the Ganges runs deep and cold
and the same rituals have been taking place there for millennia.
Early 2025 is set to welcome the highly anticipated newest outing from The Rishis. The Athens, Georgia based band is centered around the songwriting duo of Sofie Lute and Ranjan Avasthi and has now expanded to a full band with a rotating cast of musicians playing psychedelic folk rock with tinges of world music to add coloring to the mandala. Sofie and Ranjan have been writing songs together for over a decade now with their debut album, August Moon, which arrived in 2022 on the Elephant 6 Recording Company label of Cloud Recordings. In addition to the duo, the Rishis regularly feature a variety of artists, including members of Neutral Milk Hotel, the Apples in Stereo, the Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power, and the Primordial Void Collective. Other guest musicians on this newest outing include Mac McCaughan (founder of Merge Records), Robert Schneider (producer of the Elephant 6 Recording Company), co-producer Chris Byron, and Colin Willard & Gregg White of Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California. The Rishis self-titled second album, out February 21st on vinyl and digital formats, picks up where August Moon left off, propelling us forward to explore the inner workings of the collective consciousness. This sophomore release tells stories of people who have lost their voices, identities, and homelands. But this record is not all wintery forlorn tales, it also illuminates themes of hope and rebirth. The Rishis self-titled album plays to the light proclivities of life while also delving into the darker themes that have permeated the last few years in the U.S. and around the world. The band says turning on, tuning in, and dropping the needle on this new record should transport the listener on an aural journey of sorts. The upcoming record was recorded primarily at Nuci’s Space in Athens with some overdubs at the historied Shangri-La recording studios. Before its release in February, The Rishis will unveil 3 songs from the album, with the 1st track, Coloring, breaking the light of day on November 20th of this year. This newest record from The Rishis arrives in a psychedelic landscape, infused with lyrical musings of magical music, harkening back to memories and ideas waiting to be birthed upon hearing these joyful tunes.
