Elephant Stone Release New Album ASHA Out Today | Share Single + Video “Parallel and Contrary Motion”
Elephant Stone is the long-running Montreal project led by songwriter and sitarist Rishi Dhir, who has spent over twenty years blending Western psych-pop with Indian classical influences into a cohesive, evolving sound. What began in 2006 as an experiment in transcendental, sitar-driven psychedelia has developed into a fully realized studio vision, with Dhir taking on production, engineering, and mixing duties from his home studio, Sacred Sounds. The result is a tightly controlled yet expansive body of work where Eastern and Western musical languages are woven together rather than simply combined.
While early releases leaned toward polished psych-pop and spiritual exploration, the band’s more recent material—shaped alongside longtime collaborators Miles Dupire, Robbie MacArthur, and Jason Kent—has taken on a rougher, more immediate edge. Dhir’s extensive work with artists like The Black Angels, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Beck, and the supergroup MIEN has fed into this evolution, pushing Elephant Stone toward a denser, more unpredictable sound. Across ten albums, the project has stayed rooted in psychedelic tradition while constantly deconstructing it, reshaping familiar influences into something more visceral, immersive, and emotionally direct.
“‘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.”
“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.”
Montreal psych-rock band Elephant Stone have released their 10th studio album, ASHA, via Elephants On Parade. Named after frontman Rishi Dhir’s late mother—Asha means “hope” in Sanskrit—the album explores grief, mortality, and the challenge of holding onto hope during dark and uncertain times. Blending the band’s signature psychedelia with melodic pop, glam-rock textures, and expansive arrangements, ASHA turns deeply personal experiences of loss into a broader meditation on resilience and moving forward.
At the emotional center of the album is “Parallel and Contrary Motion,” a soaring psychedelic track inspired in part by the loss of Dhir’s friend Christian Dorey, who died by suicide after struggling with anxiety and depression. Taking its title from one of Dhir’s daughter’s piano books, the song gradually revealed its meaning as he processed his friend’s death, capturing the complicated space between grief and acceptance. With echoes of The Flaming Lips, David Bowie, and Tame Impala, the track reflects ASHA’s central idea: that sorrow and hope can exist alongside one another.
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
Make sure you check out “Parallel and Contrary Motion” on YouTube below and the full ASHA album over on Spotify!
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