“There are times when the natural world has a lesson for us which we are only able to pick up when we take the time to slow down and listen.”
With the album What the Elephant Told, Deuter takes listeners to a more peaceful environment in which music can be used to reestablish a connection with nature and to reflect on the lives around us. Partly inspired by his respect for the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya, the album focuses on the relationship between humans and animals, employing instrumental music to examine a topic that goes beyond what can be said in words. Instead of portraying nature as something far away that can only be observed, Deuter prompts listeners to view it as a living world with its own rhythms, mysteries, and lessons. The outcome is a project centred on contemplation, peace, and the importance of directing our attention towards things that we usually neglect. The eight songs in the album provide various ways of accessing this contemplative atmosphere. The title song, “What the Elephant Told”, is at the heart of the album and has a running time of 12 minutes and 46 seconds. Because of its position and duration, it naturally serves as the album’s main statement, enabling the key theme of the connection between humans and animals to stay with the listener. Since elephants are the basis of the project, their inclusion gives the album a sense of perspective; they are beings whose lives, family ties, and position in the natural world encourage us to go beyond our own immediate worries. Deuter’s composition provides a musical environment in which the listener can dwell on that idea without being pushed towards a simple answer.
The atmosphere of the album is continued by the other tracks.“Mapambazuku”, which lasts 8 minutes and 52 seconds, and “Ndoto za Tembo”, at 9 minutes and 48 seconds, are among the longer tracks, while “Kumbukumbu”, “Nymphaea” and “Kumbatio la Tembo” offer the shorter sections in the entire collection. “Pollen Path” and “Laini na Kubwa” also contribute to the album’s eight-part structure. As a result, these tracks give the impression of a body of work that is worth listening to over an extended period. Rather than being seen as a series of songs organised around traditional verses and choruses, the album is presented as an instrumental piece designed to allow stillness, reflection and immersion. The intention makes use of a wide musical range. Deuter combines the cello, synthesizer, violin, oboe, flute and piano, pairing acoustic instruments with electronic sounds. This variety is in keeping with his long-established method of working in the fields of ambient, new age and world music. Rather than depending on lyrics to make clear the meaning of the album, the instrumental compositions encourage listeners to interact with the music in their own way. The aim is to promote relaxation, peace and contemplation, which makes the record appropriate for quiet listening, meditation or for those situations when the noise of everyday life becomes too much.
The fact that it is linked with the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust makes What the Elephant Told have a key area of focus. The Trust’s work involving elephants has inspired a project which promotes greater awareness of the natural world. Deuter does not have to turn the album into a direct statement on conservation if that link is to be significant; by putting elephants at the centre of the concept, he provides an opportunity for listeners to consider the animals with whom we share the planet and the responsibility that goes with such a relationship. Over the course of many decades Deuter has developed a special method for producing instrumental music, having issued over sixty albums and making use of a broad variety of instruments and musical traditions. In this instance that experience serves a definite function: it aims at providing listeners with an opportunity to stop, take a breath and concentrate. *What the Elephant Told* is in the end a call for listening in a different way—to the music, to nature, and to the softer questions that arise when we allow ourselves time for reflection. In a world which always requires our attention Deuter gives the message that it can be meaningful simply to slow down.
English