"Man on The Earth" has landed... thanks to Eluphant!

 

For those of you who have been keeping tabs on my blog, I did a review on Eluphant last month when they released their last mini-album, "She's Not Following You". This eclectic hip-hop duo from Korea immediately made an impact on me when I first heard their songs --- they were an interesting mix of jazz, bossanova, R&B, rock and rap all put together in one album. I'm not exactly a big fan of old school hip-hop and rap, but having been exposed to Eluphant made me think otherwise considering the kind of experimentation that was going along in their album.

For those of you who haven't read my review last month of Eluphant, it would be best to click here before you continue. Once you're done with that, you can check out their full album, "Man On The Earth", which was released last June 9. 

NOTE: Now I have to set your expectations again --- since this is a VERY RECENT release, there aren't any English subs for any of the songs, plus some of the titles are just rough translations. Once there are subs in English, I will definitely make sure to update my article to include new content.

"Man On The Earth" is Eluphant's second album, and contains pretty much most of the singles that they've released through most of this year, like "She's Not Following You", "You're Still Beautiful", and "Hello My Dear". For this release, we see a combination of both  mainstream hip-hop / rap and the experimental fusion work that have made both Kebee and Minos popular.

The first new track that caught my attention is the second song from the album, "From The Sun To The Boy" (해에게서 소년에게). The track is catchy, and has an easy rhythm to follow. The melody is a combination of strong electronic synth with strong background beats. The vocal work from both Kebee and Minos were exceptional - the various combined rhythms of rap, and the carefully placed vocal in the chorus created an interesting contrast which kept the track engaging. 

"From The Sun To The Boy" by Eluphant (Audio Only)

"The Young Prince" (월요병), the 6th track in the album and a collaboration track with vocalist Soul Man,  is an energetic combination of retro electro-pop and hip-hop. The retro groove of the song is infectious and makes you want to dance right away! The smoothly combined vocal and rap are also key to this awesome track!

"The Young Prince" by Eluphant feat. Soulman (Audio Only)

"Lost and Found" (분실물), the 10th track to this album, slows down the pace of the album by introducing a mid-tempo song. This song is particularly interesting because of the simple rhythm of the song (again, established with electronic syth work combined with strong background beats). Loved the vocal for this track too!

"Lost and Found" by Elupant (Audio Only) 

Eluphant is definitely not your ordinary brand of hip-hop and rap, and it's the kind of music that a lot of people can readily appreciate. Both Kebee and Minos aren't afraid of taking those risks necessarily to develop their unique sound, and hopefully those efforts will pay off in the long term. I'm definitely a fan!