The Zagreb band released their new album 'Dobra djeca' after a six-year hiatus, and Remi and Shot reveal how it came together, their thoughts on artificial intelligence, and why they've stayed true to their socially conscious expression.
A quarter of a century on the music scene, the Zagreb band Elemental marks the occasion with a new album aptly titled 'Dobra djeca'. After a six-year gap since the release of 'Ilica' in 2020, the seven-piece ensemble led by Remi and Shot returns with material that, they say, bears the stamp of the times in which it was created, along with their signature social engagement.
The creative process behind the new album was anything but linear. Shot reveals that the songs began taking shape during rehearsals, then moved to the studio, only for them to ultimately discard nearly all the sketches they had made. "We rearranged every sketch we had made up to that point and took it in a different direction. And I think you can hear that on 'Dobra djeca'," Shot told Novi list. He adds that the album is quite different from their previous work and that they allowed themselves to push some things more radically.
Remi notes that they started "tinkering" with the album right after 'Ilica' came out in 2020, during an intensely charged period. "I think we all feel like two years are missing from our collective consciousness," she observes. But Elemental, as she puts it, rarely dwells on the past. "We're a band of the present, because you live in the now, not yesterday or tomorrow." The messages that had been swirling in their minds since the pandemic found their way into the songs on the new album.
The album's title raises a host of questions about the values society imposes. Shot explains the symbolism: "Are good kids those who obey their parents without question and do as they're told? Or maybe good kids are the ones with scraped knees, laughing freely in nature?" He also wonders whether good kids can be those who don't know what a cow or a sheep looks like, and what values we impart to them so we can call them good. "The definition of a good kid is highly individual, isn't it?" he concludes.
The visual identity of the album is credited to Branimir Kolarek Badcat, whose cover Remi describes as a masterpiece. "It left no one cold," she says. Over time, the band has learned to pay more attention to the visual side, partly due to the demands of social media, which call for greater consistency and polish.
Elemental has been socially engaged since their inception in 1998, when Remi, Shot, and Ink, with DJ Excel on the decks, formed the band. "Our themes are the themes of everyday life, and unfortunately, not much has changed since 1998," says Remi. That's why songs like 'Iz dana u dan' from 2004 or 'Zašto te imam' from 2008 still resonate with contemporary relevance.
Their latest single, 'Zamisli', also speaks to this paradox of being frozen in time. Remi doesn't think the label of socially conscious artist is worn out, because in Croatia only a handful of performers engage with such music. "We've never performed for political parties; our activism comes from the heart. We fight against injustice and always side with minorities, with those who don't navigate the dominant narrative well," she emphasizes. She quotes a line from the song 'Ptice bez gnijezda' off 'Ilica': "someone has to be the minority, someone has to be that too, to hatred reply with love, every good for some evil."
Remi believes a beautiful balance can be struck between artistic imprint and engagement. "These are the footprints we leave behind, in balance between sending a message that also carries artistic value."
Shot is quite analog-oriented in his studio technique, though he admits it's becoming increasingly stressful because spare parts for servicing and maintaining equipment are no longer available. "That's why digital definitely wins. Nearly the same sound, but at your fingertips and always consistent regardless of conditions," he says. Everything has blended together these days-futurism has become retro, digital mimics analog, and neither is inherently better than the other.
When it comes to artificial intelligence, Shot believes it's a challenge of our time that we'll have to learn to handle. "For now, it still can't emulate the unpredictability of human creative processes." Still, he warns that AI will further trivialize, copy, and devalue anything that isn't of great artistic merit through mass production. "The hardest thing will be for AI to create something truly original that an artist can."
Reflecting on the past 25 years, Remi says what tugs at her heart most is friendship. "I was looking for musicians, and I found friends. I found a family!" she concludes. And when asked to describe Elemental in a few words, Shot says: "We keep going, working, creating, playing, traveling..."
