I HEARD YOU LISTENING

I've been listening to Echolyn for about 20 years now (yikes time sure flies!) and I've grown to love each one of their albums. Their latest album, "I Heard You Listening" will probably took some listens to get fully stuck in your mind, but boy if it will be worth it!

TL;DR: BUY IT!

Messenger of All's Right 8/10 A delicate piano part introduces Ray's vocals, powerful and emotional at the same time. I love the break at 3:23 and the effects in background. Very creative use of drumming here, too. All in all a very good start for the album.

Warjazz 9/10 Warjazz has a positive "Georgia Pine" vibe to it and it's probably the first song that will get stuck in your head. The chorus is as catchy as it can get and it's supported by some fantastic tom-heavy fills by Ramsey. There isn't a single thing I don't like about Warjazz. It's just a fantastic tune, and one I'll never get tired of. I love the playful break at 2:41. Did I already say that the chorus is fantastic?

Empyrean Views 10/10 Ok. Empyrean Views. Whatever you're doing right now, stop, sit down, disconnect the phone, turn up the volume and let yourself be surrounded by Echolyn at its finest. Backing vocals are truly fantastic and I love the lyrics. If there's a song that shows how mature Echolyn have gotten in their songwriting, is this one. The "Find your way" chorus is fantastic, but the apex of the song is when Ray's aggressive vocals come in at 4:27, perfectly complementing Brett's calmer phrases: goosebumps. The final solos (guitar and keyboards) are very inspired and not a note sounds out of place. Pure bliss.

Different Days 8/10 A rocking start settles at about 0:30 on a piano carpet. I prefer the verses to the chorus on this song. I especially like the backing vocals at 2:28. Surprise: I like the change of pace at 3:15, it really evolves the song in an interesting way and to some great drumming parts. I think Buzby's work (keys) is much more prominent on this album and I love it, and his piano parts in this song are really tasteful and spot on. A very solid song!

Carried Home 8/10 Carried Home starts off with some gentle vocals from Ray, underlined by the usual wonderful backing vocals Echolyn have been spoiling us with since 1991. I love the instrumental section at about 2:50. This is another song on which I prefer the verses to the chorus, but the whole song is of a very high level.

Once I Get Mine 8.5/10 Another very direct and aggressive song. The paradoxical fact is that I initially disregarded the song a bit. Took me a bit to get into it, and that's because it's a much more complex song than what the lyrics and the initial minute make you believe. Just listen to the drums... Or to the break at 2:38... How cool is that? Hey I told you it was a very direct song, then what the hell it's happening at 3:00? and then at 3:12?!?!? It's Echolyn happening, that's what. Ok so the "usual" choruses end the song at 4:30? No! We're in for some more shouting! And for another calmer part! And for a hard-rocking finish! Holy macaroni!

Sound of Bees N/A Ok now you might be wondering why I didn't rate this song. Well I consider Sound of Bees a transitional song, a bit like the Poems in the Cowboy Poems for Free were, but not in a dismissive way. It allows you to rest your ears a bit, while you listen to a great vocal performance by Ray Weston. It's a very personal song.

All This Time We're Given 9,5/10 A deeply rich and complex song, which start off relatively calm, with some very charming verses, which lead to the part at 2:43 "All This Time We're Given..." which reminded a bit of Echolyn's first album. The central part (4:02) features a very emotional guitar part, followed by the usual intense vocals from Ray. If the song ended now, it would be already a very good song. But then a voice shouts "I've got nowhere, nowhere to go!" and throws you into what's in my opinion the best 30 seconds Echolyn has ever recorded: Chris piano part is -melodically amazing- and the chorus is really, really as close to harmonic perfection as it gets. An incredible way to finish a fantastic song.

Vanishing Sun 9/10 Now, I confess making a mistake with this album: my first listens were done with crappy phone earphones, so crappy I could barely hear the bass... DON'T MAKE THAT MISTAKE: listen to this album with good speakers and/or earphones. I'm saying this now, because initially I couldn't get into this song, and I was wondering why. Well, after I could -finally- listen to it on a decent setup, it really made the difference. The beginning part of the song is interesting and "angry", with a nice vocal break at about 2:40. It's weird how your perception of a song changes after you've listened to it for a few times, and this song is probably the perfect example for it. Why? Well because at 4:46 it's like being thrown into a different room of a club, just to be finally pushed to the "best final chorus of any album ever" room. Really, are you ready? A great ending, to a great album.