![Review: Echo Lake - Wild Peace [Album]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/geek/gars/images/2/echolakewildpeace.jpg)
![Review: Echo Lake - Wild Peace [Album]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/altthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fhangout.altsounds.com%2Fgeek%2Fgars%2Fimages%2F2%2Fecholakewildpeace.jpg&w=500&h=500&zc=1&q=70){kind=small}
Spread the Social Love:
Wild Peace is Echo Lake’s first album, a debut so heady and gorgeous that it seems the product of a band at its zenith rather than in its infancy. The dreampop quintet’s most distinct reference point appears to be Beach House, but despite their similarities, Echo Lake has a very different character, particularly in the form of its singer. Linda Jarvis’ voice is airy, light, and attimes ethereal.
Opener ‘Further Down’ is a clever introduction to the band and its style. Jarvis’ unique voice, drenched in reverb, tiptoes over a hypnotic organ line. Guitars echo Jarvis’ melody, until a deeper backing accompanies the entry of the first, echo-heavy, lyrics of the record. You can barely hear what she’s singing, but it doesn’t matter; close your eyes and you might be entering a wood on a sunny afternoon, with dappled light flickering through the trees. It’s only later that you realise what the sinister lyrics are: ‘You won’t get very far, I will bring you down.’ Before long you’re stranded in Echo Lake’s lush, hazy forest.
Slice after luscious slice of sonic perfection is offered up to the listener; the joyous, dazzling ‘Another Day’ declares, ‘They said we could start all over,’ title track ‘Wild Peace’ envelops the ears with a mesmerizing wall of sound, while ‘Even The Blind’ is pure loveliness, the enigmatic phrase ‘even the blind could see’ set against an unerring, beguiling melody.
Instrumental ‘Monday 5AM’ is a timely pause and melodic pleaser, before the shift up a gear to previous EP title track ‘Young Silence’, the heaviest track of the album, with a striking video made using Microsoft’s Kinect hardware.
The remainder of the album tends towards more melancholy, down-tempo tracks, showing a different side to Echo Lake and bringing the listener in full circle to the sunlit optimism of the openers.
‘Last Song of the Year’ sees Jarvis’ voice layered over itself, interspersed with Thom Hill’s tearing guitar solos. Near the end of the journey through Echo Lake’s dense sonic territory is a rewardingly tranquil moment: ‘Swimmers’ pulsates like ripples on a water’s surface, or the beating of a heart. ‘Just Kids’ gives the album a fitting end, finishing on Hill’s note-perfect guitar solo.
It soon becomes clear what makes Echo Lake’s sound so good: the balance of its atmospheric instrumentation with Jarvis’ delicate voice. Neither ever imposes on the other. The synthesis of the two instils in the listener a very real sense of awe, and leads to one of the most fully-formed, satisfying debuts of 2012.
Echo Lake's drummer, Peter Hayes, tragically passed away on Thursday, 21st June at the age of just 25. Our condolences go to his family, friends and bandmates. RIP Peter. http://www.justgiving.com/echolake.
Opener ‘Further Down’ is a clever introduction to the band and its style. Jarvis’ unique voice, drenched in reverb, tiptoes over a hypnotic organ line. Guitars echo Jarvis’ melody, until a deeper backing accompanies the entry of the first, echo-heavy, lyrics of the record. You can barely hear what she’s singing, but it doesn’t matter; close your eyes and you might be entering a wood on a sunny afternoon, with dappled light flickering through the trees. It’s only later that you realise what the sinister lyrics are: ‘You won’t get very far, I will bring you down.’ Before long you’re stranded in Echo Lake’s lush, hazy forest.
WATCH // Echo Lake - 'Even The Blind'
Slice after luscious slice of sonic perfection is offered up to the listener; the joyous, dazzling ‘Another Day’ declares, ‘They said we could start all over,’ title track ‘Wild Peace’ envelops the ears with a mesmerizing wall of sound, while ‘Even The Blind’ is pure loveliness, the enigmatic phrase ‘even the blind could see’ set against an unerring, beguiling melody.
Instrumental ‘Monday 5AM’ is a timely pause and melodic pleaser, before the shift up a gear to previous EP title track ‘Young Silence’, the heaviest track of the album, with a striking video made using Microsoft’s Kinect hardware.
WATCH // Echo Lake - 'Young Silence'
The remainder of the album tends towards more melancholy, down-tempo tracks, showing a different side to Echo Lake and bringing the listener in full circle to the sunlit optimism of the openers.
‘Last Song of the Year’ sees Jarvis’ voice layered over itself, interspersed with Thom Hill’s tearing guitar solos. Near the end of the journey through Echo Lake’s dense sonic territory is a rewardingly tranquil moment: ‘Swimmers’ pulsates like ripples on a water’s surface, or the beating of a heart. ‘Just Kids’ gives the album a fitting end, finishing on Hill’s note-perfect guitar solo.
It soon becomes clear what makes Echo Lake’s sound so good: the balance of its atmospheric instrumentation with Jarvis’ delicate voice. Neither ever imposes on the other. The synthesis of the two instils in the listener a very real sense of awe, and leads to one of the most fully-formed, satisfying debuts of 2012.
Echo Lake's drummer, Peter Hayes, tragically passed away on Thursday, 21st June at the age of just 25. Our condolences go to his family, friends and bandmates. RIP Peter. http://www.justgiving.
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