Echo Machine is a three piece rock-inspired pop group from beautiful Dundee. Starting steadily back in April 2018 with a few summer releases, Echo Machines sold out their debut two shows and went on to perform in Sneaky Petes and Perth Music XPO, before slowing down again to focus on recording new music. In their words, they are “currently planning [their] assault on 2019, brb. x” and with their latest premier, Chameleon, their return to the music scene of Scotland is kicking off to a running start. A lot of “cold practice rooms, dark bedrooms, £4 red wine, hellish black coffee and near mental breakdowns” went into the making of this track (and hopefully many more to follow) and to me, those are the ingredients to an absolute bop. Let’s dig in.
The drum-led intro reverberates and warns of something big coming; an explosion of the band coming together in a tense and exhilarating harmony just blows you away within the first 30 seconds. Supported by a scratchy and powerful guitar backing, the lead singer begins to describe the symbolism and reasoning of this song with a fantastic first verse:
“I’ll take you back to mine And show you all my faces, my favourite disguise. I wanna be a star,
A silver-screen creation,
The first of my kind.”
The loneliness of the narrative voice and the imbued sense of greatness blend together perfectly to convey the isolation that unfortunately comes with success and determination; so alongside being a song about pride and achievement, Chameleon is a reminder of authenticity and how it feels to exist in so many different states of mind. I think this part of the song was mostly influenced by the £4 wine and near mental breakdowns.
The chorus marries the desolation and ambition of this song together with a beautiful display of vocal talent; the line that really stood out to me in the chorus was “I’m everyone you’ve ever known.” So much emotion and art has been stitched into this song: since discovering it it’s been played at least twice a day. The message speaks to a lot of people, regardless of the situation they are currently in – who hasn’t felt the exhaustion of ambition, the bittersweet delight of a transparent lifestyle. Everyone wants to be recognised, to be seen; to be completely understood and appreciated. This song conveys this desire so well in just two minutes and fourty-eight seconds.
Chameleon concludes with a powerful concluding statement: “I’ve got no fate, no history; I don’t know who I’m meant to be.” Like any tune forged with a lot of reflection, isolation, and cheap booze, Chameleon keeps the audience engaged and alive right up to the last second, so you can only think about the sad meaning after the gig.
This song is intimate and exciting, enticing and reviving; Chameleon evolves into a complex multi-layer pop-rock piece that fits right into the kind of music that reminds me of home. I’m shocked at how early these guys are in their career and how much potential they’re showing. Echo Machine are giving me a hell of a lot of pride for Dundee.
You can catch these boys and all of their tracks on Spotify and on their Facebook here, and keep an eye out for the Chameleon music video dropping later this week!
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