Echobelly
Everyone’s Got One (3 Loop Music 3-Range 24)
Cast your mind back to the early 90’s, when Britpop was riding high in the charts, led by the unit-shifting behemoth that was Oasis, and their stage-school arch-rivals, Blur. There were plenty more home-grown ensembles swimming in their slipstream, but one which defied the blokey stereotypes and presented some of the most positive, life-affirming tunes of the age, were the multi-cultural Echobelly. Singer and principal lyricist Sonya Aurora Madan, born in India, and Swedish guitarist Glenn Johansson co-wrote the band’s material, and the band had many members over their twelve-year ‘first’ lifetime.
Those discerning folk at 3-Loop Music have re-released Echobelly’s first and second LP’s, and I’ll be reviewing ‘On’ another time. ‘Everyone’s Got One’, comes in a 2-CD edition, leaving plenty of room for singles and bonus tracks that may have passed your notice.
‘E.G.O.1’ opener ‘Today Tomorrow Sometime Never’ hits the ground running, heavy chords and Sonja’s sweet R.P. voice soaring, with a winding chorus and battling guitars rising upward and onward. ‘Father, Ruler, King, Computer’ arrives with a fine brass intro, then those winners’ chords kick in. Sonya’s perfect diction and the clear production ensure the message of the song, a diatribe against the imposition of arranged marriages, does not get lost in the guitar maelstrom.
The first genuine ‘driver’ song, ‘Give Her A Gun’ hammers home a message about the inferior status of women around the globe, and a possible, hopefully metaphoric solution, with its urgent stop/start rhythm and moody drumming. It’s followed by the sublime ‘I Can’t Imagine the World Without Me’, with its cross talking guitars and the voice hitting the heights and flying around the mountain tops with the eagles. I bet Morrissey liked that one.
‘Bellyache’, a swamp of brooding trouble bubbling up, the slight touch of a Bo Diddley beat with Sonya’s voice ringing out over it, and wah-wah guitar creeping in, is an evocation of the deepest pain a woman might suffer. ‘Taste Of You’ is a sweet relief, an acoustic guitar opening, electric guitar arpeggios, those ever-sweet vocals and the guitars flying through the swinging rhythm.
‘Insomniac’, always a high spot of their live sets, has a slow, bluesy intro, commanding guitars, and a sublime vocal performance that takes years off you, sending you climbing up trees like a kid. Surely Echobelly’s finest tune, it can hardly be believed that it only scraped into the Top 50 when released as a single.
More serious subjects are still on the agenda, and the sweet delivery of the heart breaking ‘Call Me Names’ gets its message of alienation, incomprehension and blind prejudice, perfectly. ‘Close…But’ is a little more playful, but it isn’t classic Echobelly, and ‘Cold Feet Warm Heart’s tolling bell guitars and swinging rhythm takes us back to the bar.
‘Scream’s bluesy, distorted guitar intro, and slow, sweet vocal takes us through, ending in a glorious swell of guitars and voice, and a final, angry note. A completely creditable first LP that had a respectable chart showing.
But wait, that’s not your lot. The second CD has a comprehensive collection of B Sides (if such a thing could be said to exist in the CD age) from their ‘Bellyache’, ‘Insomniac’, ‘I Can’t Imagine The World Without Me’ and ‘Close…But’ CDs, and also their Steve Lamacq evening session from February 1994. The alternate take of ‘Bellyache’ has enough distortion and Arabic rhythms to please the average Jesus & Mary Chain fan, and the first, rougher take on ‘Give Her A Gun’ exceeds even the LP version for its arresting power. ‘So La Di Da’ appears a nod to kindred spirits Suede, and although some tracks may have a routine quality to them, the CD is well worth persisting with, to hear those commanding guitars and Sonya’s assured voice let loose on more unconventional material. BUY HERE!
Echobelly
‘On’ 3-Loop Music 3 Range 25
A welcome re-release of Echobelly’s most successful LP, and packed with extras that take it up to a two-CD collection, ‘On’ makes the ideal companion to 3 Loop’s re-release of ‘Everyone’s Got One’ with its own collection of B Sides and more.
Little seemed to change in Echobellyworld from the debut LP ‘EGO’ to this winning compilation, as ‘Car Fiction’s choppy, urgent guitars demonstrate so well. An excited, ‘us against the world’ track, that leads into ‘King of The Kerb’, arguably their best single, but which, inexplicably, only grazed the Top 30. A high, Arabesque lick, guitar chiming like bells, Sonya’s ‘excited child with BBC newsreader’s diction’ voice, savouring every critical word, in a song which evokes the fading sleaze of Soho in the mid-90’s. The joyous lead-out of guitar arpeggio and carefree voice is worth listening to on its own.
That ‘Great Things’ should prove to be their most successful single is a little puzzling to say the least; a typical barnstormer of a riff, Sonya’s voice a smile in audio form, but some fairly routine lyrics didn’t impress this fan boy at the time. ‘Natural Animal’s winding start, waltz tempo and yodelling vocal is another formulaic piece, but a not unappetising one. ‘Go Away’s thrusting chords contrast heavily with Sonya’s child-like vocal stylings, joyfully delivering melancholic lyrics.
We’re back to some of London’s less fragrant streets in ‘Pantyhose & Roses’, a rising/falling guitar figure proving a good foil to a song of marital discord and the temptations of the flesh. ‘Something Hot In A Cold Country’ has a slow, plodding start but as the melody picks up, and the voice gentle hold of the comforting lyrics, we have a more reflective, engaging and reassuring sort of Echobelly.
A celebratory rocker follows, in ‘Four Letter Word’, then a swinging rhythm, big up song, ‘Nobody Like You’. Clearly aimed at the Echobelly faithful, it builds up, up and still further up, a beautiful piece of work. ‘In The Year’s choppy, muted guitars and childhood memory lyrics sit well with the previous ‘there, there’ message, and the slow, acoustic/electric build-up of ‘Dark Therapy’s unhurried, mutli-layered piece has pretty harmonies and a deftly-handled cacophonous lead-out that makes for a stand-out on this LP.
‘Worms and Angels’ folksy intro after a 1-2-3 count-in (their first?) takes us into another swinger, but one with somewhat dark subject matter. With its allusions to true love and death, this could be an indicator of the band getting bored with their full-on joyful approach, perhaps starting to look at new and more dangerous type of avenues.
The first CD continues straight into B Sides and rarities (do they exist for anyone in this, our age of Kali-Yuga, You Tube?) a mixed bag that pleases and distracts in roughly equal measure. The Cramps-like stomp of ‘Here Comes The Scene’ is followed by ‘God’s Guest List’, a Shadows style guitar figure reminiscent of ‘Man Of Mystery’, and Sonya’s always-sweet voice, is a surprisingly good fit on a CD of otherwise inescapably 90’s rock. Some alt-takes provide some small interest here, but I suspect you, like me, are itching to hear the Wetlands gig from 1995, so we’ll load the second CD.
A great, choppy, discordant version of ‘I Can’t Imagine the World Without Me’ opens, with ‘Car Fiction’ following hot on its heels, its dead-halt ending a killer. ‘Close…But’s bright sound and note-perfect vocal are a joy, and ‘Dark Therapy’s slow intro and distinctly sexy vocal closes with a long, pleasing instrumental.
‘Father, Ruler, King, Computer’ suffers a little from a routine guitar chop, but Sonya’s vocal delivery recalls the late, great Poly Styrene. One of the crowd isn’t slow to show their heartfelt appreciation, either. ‘Give Her A Gun’s bluesy 60’s guitar treatment, complete with vintage fuzz, works well, and ‘Go Away’s storming intro succeeds with this audience.
‘Great Things’ is taken a little slower than normal, and with perhaps less enthusiasm, but ‘Insomniac’ is delivered hard and strong, followed by a glorious ‘King of the Kerb’. ‘Natural Animal’s departure and ‘Pantyhose and Roses’ clear, high standard show Echobelly had plenty of life left in them, on this tour. ‘Today Tomorrow Sometime Never’s live treatment is so close to the recorded version, you wonder you might be listening to the LP it came from.
1995’s four-track Peel Session showcases ‘Four Letter Word’, in fine form, ‘Car Fiction’, with Sonya putting in a full, emotional vocal performance, ‘Pantyhose and Roses’ full of righteous anger, and ‘Go Away’ an enveloped, fuzzy guitar backed up by a powerful riff that goes beyond the hard rock tendency common in Britpop at the time. BUY HERE!
Claudia Brucken
Where else… (Cherry Red) CDBRED634
In which the elegant former singer of Propaganda and Act puts the esoterica to one side, and explores a more rootsy, eclectic side to herself.
‘I Want You’ is a classy opener, evoking sultry moods with its ‘European film’ strings, distant, romantic piano, and Claudia’s breathy voice emoting about a man she is obsessed with, and who she desperately wants back in her life.
‘Nothing Good Is Ever Easy’s slow, pedestrian shuffle has sublime moments in amongst the muffled drumbeat, chilling piano chords, and teasing, hesitant vocal. Thankfully never falling into the tedious trip hop trap, we get raw, emotional lyrics, a shimmering chorus, (my heart dancing in me) making it an easy tune to like. The absent lover narrative of ‘I Lay All Night’ is backed well with a simple organ, a guitar figure adding just the right amount of tension to this tale of want and longing.
Claudia’s respectful rendition of the Nick Drake classic, ‘Day Is Done’, is an early high spot, with its minimal backing of drum and plaintive piano.
The surface politeness of the invitation of ‘Walk Right In’ to an old lover, proves to be a little more like mischievous fun at the man’s expense. A good melody, reminiscent of her former band, Propaganda, and with Claudia’s detached vocal delivery, it’s worth persisting with in the same way as a film with a good cast which seems initially slow.
‘Nevermind’s 80s’ style funky guitar and serene vocal harmonies hold up this pleasing slice of Europop, and it will come as no surprise to learn that there’s a single in the offing. ‘Here’s my olive branch, my beating heart’.
‘How Do I Know’s strong ‘waking up’ figure intro leads into a finely crafted song of offered, but conditional love. Lyrics contain some of the strongest incitements yet: ‘In dreams, I could be so pure’, ‘If you don’t try me, you won’t find me.’
In amongst these raw emotions, there’s surely room for a little more pop? Look to the close, tight guitar chords of ‘Moon Song’. It may seem a bit too Kylie-like for some tastes, but the imagery drawn from nature’s drama, lightning, moon, tide and time, are enough to give the song a little weight, in this limerick-like lyrical type structure.
Once again veering toward the 80’s in the nervous backing figure to ‘Letting Go’, a ‘lost in the city’ sort of feeling, but tempered with empowering lyrics such as ‘I still feel a fire’ A bluesy guitar makes a welcome appearance over the period synth sounds. Continuing in this vein, ‘Time to Make Changes’ has a brighter tone, and subtle chords to coo over.
‘Sweet Sound Vision’, the album’s closing track, has Claudia’s subtle vocal over a gently swaying tune that seems suited to a late night indoors with a lover and a bottle of wine. I wouldn’t argue with that. BUY HERE!
