“Thinking that for something to just be a sound is useless, whereas I love sounds just where they are, and I have no need for them to be anything more than what they are.” – John Cage

Echodrone‘s first release was in 2007. It was a tranquil daydream of an EP that dovetailed shoegaze and dream pop, with a healthy dose of ambient. Through the years, they never steered too far away from that initial premise. That is until the 2019’s ambitious, mammoth Everything starts to be a reminder, an expansive ambient affair as otherworldly as a Richard Powers sci fi artwork.

Music for 6 musicians, their newest album, continues what Everything starts to be a reminder, with a healthy dash of whatever Echodrone was cooking on last year’s The Curvature of sound -the last third of the album is gorgeous-, a late career highlight many bands should envy.

Whereas Curvature relaxed drifting beyond the Van Allen radiation belt, Music for 6 musicians is a single 39 minute track, split into movements that echo Steve Roach, Global Communication, and Tangerine Dream, but still locked into that well-polished Echodrone sound that galvanised over time into a sweeping cavalcade of emotions.

Synths become spacious, opening their wings like in the cinematic ‘Movement VII’, where a swollen synth, possibly overlooking the O’Hare Oasis, serves as a clear swerve into a hitherto unexplored emotion. There’s time for joyful dreampop, check ‘Movement III’ with it’s dancing arpeggio and ethereal vocals. A little Ray Lynch in the mix, a little Cocteau Twins, perhaps something else, still lurking about, paired with samples of John Cage’s wit.

I can’t fathom where Echodrone goes from here, but I’m happy I bought the ticket (and I’m taking the ride).

-Sam J. Valdés López