The album takes inspiration from elements of nature, with each track evolving from a small gesture or motif, evoking a journey through fragmented thoughts and feelings. Einaudi says: "I saw new frontiers — on the edge between what I knew and what I didn't know — that I had long wanted to explore: creation myths, the periodic table, Euclid's geometry, Kandinsky's writings, the matter of sound and of colour, the stems of wild grass in a meadow, the shapes of the landscape…" The title track "Elements" epitomises this exploration of organic growth. The opening begins with small, understated gestures: the "heartbeat" of the bass and electric guitar, coloured with the Rhodes motif. This gradually builds through waves of energy as each element develops, eventually incorporating the full, momentous force of the string orchestra. This piano solo arrangement remains faithful to the original impression, with each layer growing from the opening fragments. The unique accompanying backing track supports the soloist and reproduces the same invigorating energy as the album recording, providing a chance to delve into the music and immerse yourself in a truly exhilarating experience. The opening keyboard loop of "Night" forms the identity of the song, which develops gradually with gentle cross rhythms from the piano, blended with rich harmonies and scalic fragments from the strings. For the first time in his career in anticipation of the album release, Einaudi made available piano scores of two tracks, "Elements" and "Night", complete with the free original backing tracks. Einaudi discussed the themes of "Elements" in a September 2015 podcast with The Mouth Magazine.
Track listing
2012 project
On 22 September 2012 Einaudi performed a project called "The Elements" at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome as a tribute to his mentor, Luciano Berio, inspired by the four classical elements of air, water, earth, and fire. One piece from the project, "Newton's Cradle", appeared on his 2013 release, In a Time Lapse. The track "Four Dimensions" from this album was also, for the most part, recorded live from the 2012 project's performance.
