Big Trouble

On Elephant Hill is the debut album from Big Trouble, the Los Angeles based project led by Justin Kohlberg (Moonrun) and Daniel Talamantes. Written and recorded by the duo in Kohlberg’s home studio The Greenhouse, mixed by Adrian Olsen (Fruit Bats, Buck Meek, Michael Nau), and mastered by Jack Doutt–the album is the fruit of a multi-year collaboration, featuring contributions from friends across the country, including Joe Kaplow, Kelly Koval, Andy Page, and David Allred.

Kohlberg (a multi-instrumentalist who’s played with Rose Droll, Naytronix, and Erisy Watt, among others) and Talamantes (a singer/guitarist/keyboard player) first met at a video shoot in 2016. Before long they found themselves collaborating frequently and getting together to jam in their free time–it was from those sessions that On Elephant Hill emerged. Inspired by Kate Bush, Juan Gabriel, and Paul McCartney, the album blends indie-rock, folk, and soul with studio experimentation–recalling Talk Talk, Brian Eno, and Broken Social Scene.

Lyrically the album takes its cues from the works of Carl Jung, W.B. Yeats, and Ricardo Flores Mágon, while also being informed by Talamantes’s activism in environmental and social justice. Album opener “Mel”, inspired by Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, is about getting into activist movements and the personal stakes that can be involved–“You’re offering everything, even when you know giving can turn into self-erasure”, says Talamantes. “Dange” riffs off 70’s soul while recounting the ICE raids in Los Angeles during June 2025, and “Signal” satirizes the cognitive dissonance so prevalent in American society these days, a recurring theme on the album. “‘Signal’ follows a guy in the suburbs who’s checked out. He can see what’s going on around him, but he doesn’t fully let himself process it. He goes through the motions, stays comfortable, and avoids confronting the damage. It’s about that quiet, everyday denial”, says Talamantes.

Royal Oakie Records is excited to release On Elephant Hill on September 18th 2026, available for digital download and streaming worldwide.