Natural Elements was the second major label release by Acoustic Alchemy since 1988. The shortest of all the band’s albums, with only eight tracks, Natural Elements was intended to showcase what the title suggests: the organic side of Acoustic Alchemy’s music.
Highlights from this album include the title track Natural Elements, which was the subject of a long-running BBC gardening program Gardener’s World, and a re-recording of the early song Casino, which now features piano and drums. The track “Ballad For Kay” is dedicated to Nick Webb’s wife, Kay.
Stuart Mason from AllMusic begins his review with the following words: “Not quite complex enough to be jazz, not quite mellow or ambient enough to be new age, and just too intelligent to be just pop, Acoustic Alchemy’s Natural Elements is its own little oddity.”
Writing an article about Acoustic Alchemy, Dirk Sutro of The Los Angeles Times wrote: “Americans love the rich acoustic music of Acoustic Alchemy. The British band has sold more than 100,000 copies of each of its albums, Red Dust & Spanish Lace and Natural Elements, in the United States.”
Track listing
- “Drake’s Drum”;
- “Night Dream”;
- “Natural Elements”;
- “Casino”;
- “If only”;
- “Ballad for Kai”;
- “Wicked Favor”;
- “Late Night on Duke Street”.