Monday October 4, 2021
Earlier in 2021, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter and producer Echolily released two singles, Under the Clocks (Stay)and Higher, which generated some healthy streaming stats and, as a result, no doubt, established an equally promising follower base.
With over 30k Spotify followers and over 100k streams, and a decent list of previous radio ads, including SBS Chill DAB, Flow FM Network, and Triple R, Echolily’s new release is set to elicit the same kind of response and attract similarly enthusiastic radio and online support. Echolily has approached Mind Spin in much the same way as her previous records—a litany of synthy, sinewy techno jolts and jitters, acting as a firm foundation for Echolily’s vocal charm, one that’s not necessarily reliant on perfectly formed cadences but pure DIY immediacy and energy.
As Echolily reveals about the birthing of the new track, ‘The first draft was actually more trippy beach summer lo-fi kinda vibes. I was not too happy with that. I needed more character to the song. So I sent it over to my dear friend, Andrew. He changed the beat and gave an alternative dance vibe to the song. Loved it so much, we decided to stick with it!’ Some of the trippy aspects have nonetheless remained intact, if only partially so.
The production attempts to fuse electro with more atmospheric elements, most notably in the chorus refrain, where the vocal is treated with the same elasticity as the darting and weaving of the drum programming. A lot of the charm of Mind Spin rests in this sense of playful malleability, Echolily’s adventurousness on show and up for scrutiny—most of the time, it works, eschewing the more blatant sort of pop frills can be refreshing if nothing else.
But Mind Spin is more than that in terms of the bigger picture for Echolily; striving for abstraction utilising contemporary pop as your core is an admirable, long game ambition. And learning about the inspiration behind the song only adds to this notion of reaching for the conceptual, as Echolily says, ‘I wrote Mind Spin after a fun wine-filled night out with a few girlfriends who were all heartbroken at the same time. In vino veritas, am I right? Wrote the whole song in one night. Mind Spin is about the different stages of intoxication, where inhibitions are lost, and true colours unravel.’
