Track By Track -Echaskech – Origin
For almost a decade Echaskech have been creating and releasing their own heady blend of electronic music – somewhere between ambient dronescapes and acidic electronica.
Following their previous 2 LP’s 2007’s Skechbook and 2009’s Shatterproof, the Hackney duo of Andy Gillham & Dom Hoare (trio when including Mach V who takes care of the visual side of things) are about to unleash their third album on the world – entitled ‘Origin‘ and due out on 24th Feb, the album is a continuation of their previous work but with a greater emphasis on organic sounds.
In the lead-up to the release we caught up with the men themselves and asked them to take us on a track by track tour of the album relating each track to a colour, setting, season and specific inspiration. Over to the boys, in their own words…
For ‘Origin’ we aimed to create an organic, not overly digital sounding album that conjured up thoughts of distant places alongside themes of discovery and exploration of new worlds.
At the same time we didn’t want to head down too obscure or complex a route with the music – ideally keeping things accessible and open to tuneful, catchy melodies.
Keeping these central themes in mind really helped our creative process and enabled us to contain our sound a bit. Otherwise we’re liable to shoot off in all manner of directions – a few of these tracks started off in completely different musical spaces and some we had to retool a bit to fit the overall theme.
The album follows a loose narrative arc so we will don our best synaesthetic hats and take you through that journey whilst also relating the tracks to colour, season, inspiration and setting where we can:
Scanners
The setting for this track is the act of discovery. If we were to choose a season, it would probably be winter – when there are thoughts of a new year, new opportunities, new places to discover. If we were to get all grand, the inspiration for Scanners is about searching the distant universe and eventually discovering a new world to explore. Really though, isn’t it just a big fat Moog bass line, some neck cracking beats and a bass guitar? If you listen closely you can hear Dom’s heavy breathing as he labours on the bass…at least, we hope that’s the case?
Colour: Spaceship Grey with a tinge of hopeful Lilac
Voyager
We’re off, travelling to pastures new with a packed lunch and some old maps of space. There’s a feeling of hope, broken with anticipation and wondering if we’ve left the gas on. This track had been around in a much sparser form for a number of years but didn’t quite fit with the rest of the album. We added the delayed melody lead line and it took on a whole new feeling. The time is spring and the inspiration here the Curiosity landing on Mars.
Sky Blue
Paper Scissors
An act of decision. Should we take a left after Neptune or a right? We can’t remember, our space maps end here and Google Maps stopped working ages ago. We play Paper Scissors Stone on which direction to take and eventually head off to the right. It’s quite dark but we can see a lovely deep orange light in the distance which warms our faces.
Deep Orange
Telomere
Arrival! We’ve found our new place! It’s uplifting! There’s piano! There’s an arp! We’re very excited to be here despite the beats taking over three minutes to kick in.
A nice pinkish purple
Metic
Metic was originally must faster and more aggressively club orientated. After a while it became apparent that it really wouldn’t work in an album context – as much the ‘resident alien’ as the name implies. Which also loosely ties in to how anyone feels on arrival in a new place or land – a little bit out of place and lost. In the end we stripped the track back, slowed things down, moved the beat into more shuffle territory and added a new melody. For live we may well roll out that banging version though…
A dark, moody violet blue
Ash Fallen
Scatters of ash blow in an autumnal breeze – this is more melancholic than most. We’ve been in our new place for some time now, experienced some ups and downs. Themes re-occur from a previous life and whilst we feel firmly established in our new environment, there’s an ever so slight discordant and uneasy feel. The beats have moved from ‘step’ territory to a more futuristic stutter.
A light wintry ash grey
Colony
The only entirely percussion free piece on the album. The inspiration here is of an established colony on a distant planet. The modular / analogue synth work on the intro lend a strange warm organic feel, like alien plants unfurling in a damp environment. The storm and rain sounds were recorded in the Alps, the electric piano too – so there’s a bit of spacious mountain influence here as well.
Emerald Green Plants
Form | Function
Strident, present and a bit more functional. We’re in control and we’re pleased that’s the case. Times are good and things are positive.
Gold
Sovereign System
The “Sovereign System” is one of three newly discovered ancient galaxies. Within it NASA have observed inexplicable molecular structures and there is much talk of extra-terrestrials and obscure life-forms. Hmmm. Sadly, not true. The closest to a Sovereign System we currently have is an IT company in Gwinnett County, Georgia. We can but dream….
White
Anomie
We worked on this track for what seems like four years. There are so many different versions of it we’ve lost count. The original versions were far more synth based and we slowly replaced the different electronic elements with piano, bass and acoustic guitar. The percussion was originally programmed digitally and never quite felt loose and live enough so we drafted in Moshik Kop, who drums with our friends The Dallas Guild, to record live snares which really helped lift things. We named it during the London riots – the word summing up what happened across those few days. It’s also one of those strange words that sounds and looks cute but describes something that isn’t. At the same time this is a really uplifting tune – quite the antithesis of how you might imagine anomie to be. But, we’d hate to end things on a low note right?
A bright vibrant yellow.
Origin is out on 24th February on Just Music. Pre order it here.
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