ECHOLYN

Echolyn's self titled album is certainly an emotional ride with some pleasant vocals from Weston masking out the more harrowing aspects of the themes within. The music is replete with proggy time sigs, such as the bright melodic 'Island' epic clocking almost 17 minutes. There are some amazing dextrous instrumental passages on the album and an overall atmosphere of hope among all the bleaker moments.

One particular shock moment comes at the intro of 'When Sunday Spills' as we hear an actual domestic dispute that may have escalated into violence. At first I thought I was listening to ravings from an asylum between people with dementia, but then a lady screams "I want to go to bed" sounding as though locked out of her house. Apparently Weston actually tape recorded a real dispute with his neighbours, making this all the more gut wrenching to listen to. The end of the song sees the return of the troubled couple and this time the man is screaming his lungs raw to his wife about how she shut the door. The lyrics are provocative; "Always over her shoulder, afraid in her own home, You keep and grow your own garden, and I've seen you drink, You know it's not a very pretty sight, So don't give another day to this."

The mood is melancholy as we hear about this marriage under destruction; "The language you use leaves no doubt your marriage is dead, She screams, "Wife beater!" Why? But, no one's really sure, You know we've heard so many hurtful things." These are the types of songs that can provoke change if people listen and certainly Echolyn hits the nail on the head capturing that feeling of emptiness and despair when domestic violence occurs.

Staring at the album cover I get the feeling its all about loss and locking out emotions or being locked out like the lady screaming "I want to go to bed!" The lyrics of '(Speaking in) Lampblack' may also be a clue as to the meaning of the enigmatic cover; "There's a sound of a million voices right beside a window view, And the pulse of the static drumming slips down past, unaware, But she remembers the moon tonight, when everything turns around all right, There was something she wanted to say, In the trails of the lampblack burning is just smoke that stains the walls, And she recalls the breaking of patterns, and the spells that once were real and held so true."

Overall Echolyn have a very powerful selection of songs that speak of the world in it's corruptible state. The music is dreamy, with layers of keyboards and some aggressive guitars, so well executed, with infectious melodies that wash over beautifully with relaxing tranquil atmospheres. Not as incredible as "Mei", but this is one of Echolyn's best and comes highly recommended as a great example of high quality Symphonic Prog.