SOTD #92 // Echo Lake: 'Young Silence'

At the turn of the decade, Simon Reynolds wrote an article stating that this has been the era when no genre has truly died. For all the claims that Hip Hop is dead, that indie is finished and that sugary pop has lost it’s way, there are still hundreds, maybe even thousands of acts putting out good stuff that would easily fit within the confines of any of those labels.

A few years ago, one style that truly looked over was that of shoegaze. Fashion being cyclical as it is, all it took was a My Bloody Valentine reunion, a bit of reverb and, lo and behold, most of the freshest sounding stuff around is utterly drenched in the swirling feedback that was a hallmark of the genre. Hailing from London, Echo Lake are a five piece who take the slow, terse noises made by the likes of Slowdive and make it a lot more exciting. It’s dreamy without being dream pop, ambient without being boring, hinting on the psychedelic whilst staying coherent and, crucially, interesting.

‘Young Silence’ is the latest effort by the group, and probably their poppiest to date. Clocking in at just over 2 minutes, it’s gone just as you begin to get a hold of its droning rhythms and ghostly vocals. If the early 90’s music scene had anywhere near as much ingenuity as this, it might not have died out in the first place.

Echo Lake: ‘Young Silence’