Echo Bloom

It’s difficult to adequately describe the spectacular sound Kyle Evans manages to evoke under the moniker of Echo Bloom. Utilizing little more than a grouping of magnificent voices, and coupling them with barebones instrumentation, this ensemble offers proof positive that more can be done with less. Consequently Evans and company provide a stirring and soaring series of songs that can’t be defined by any word other than “awesome.” There’s a reverential quality that sweeps through the acapella opener “Annunciation” and continues to grace the eight tracks that follow. Indeed, a glance at the list of credits might suggest a cast of thousands, what with the violins, viola, French horn, autoharp, cello and other forms of orchestration listed along with Evans’ own multi-instrumental arsenal. Credit this imaginative arranger with ensuring a subtle sound that emphasizes celestial harmonies, thoughtful melodies, a theatrical flair and high ambition. Clearly, originality is Evans’ strong suit, and with Blue he’s made a masterpiece. (www.echobloom.com) - No Depression

With this being my first experience with Echo Bloom and their music, I am considerably awed by the never-ending beauty and power of the lyrical writing and eclectic arrangement of instrumentals in Blue Shift. An incredible, fun, humbling, emotional performance, Blue Shift illustrates what band-leader, guitarist and song-writer Kyle Evans terms “folk-estral” music. Intoning lyrics rich with biblical allusions– lending the album a subtle, overarching theme of personal spirituality– and backed by a variety of instruments such as the oboe, violin and banjo, this live performance album is articulately and fantastically arranged, a truly magical experience. My review accordingly follows the nine songs performed live, which you can view as individual videos here.

Leading with a performance of “Fireworks,” Echo Bloom begins their poetic, performance journey with a truthful song that compares the beauty and brevity of life to a firework. Growing throughout the song from a single guitar and voice to include the orchestral variety of instruments (piano, violins, french horns, cello, bass), this song will have you running through an equally large symphony of emotional responses: a contentedness felt only when you truly relax and live within the moment; and an uncomfortable, strange combination of a tingling hope and helpless anxiety for both the future and quick passing of time.

Shifting to a more romantic style — in the common and literary use of the word — “Seeds” croons the gradual reunion of a couple and their individual, corporal return to the land where they will forever become one and be fruitful. Soft and sweet, this guitar-driven harmony between Kyle and Aviva has more power than most other tales or songs of romance I have encountered recently.

“The Annunciation” follows, sounding like a mountaintop hymn and invoking throughout it imagery of rebirth. Presumably the opening song of their live performance for it is grandiose in style, “The Annunciation” is an epic of one man’s evening journey. Wholly inspiring, this powerful track will leave you wanting to (spiritually) re-explore this magical, despairing, hopeful world of ours.

By far my favorite song on the album, “Cedar Beach” is absolutely beautiful in a melancholic way. Without wanting to ruin the poetic ending of the song, Echo Bloom covers in a light, floating, orchestral sound, one man’s self-discovery in an encounter with destiny.

With a folksy appeal and happier feel, like a song whispered across the wind and echoed in a copse, “Veins” begins as a banjo- and guitar-driven track, blooming into the band’s fuller, orchestral sound. Seen through the eyes of one man, “Veins” is a tale of unselfish cohabitation on Earth, which Echo Bloom has accordingly created and echoed in a symphonic harmony.

“Blue,” the following track, is a dreamy, sweetly saddening, undulating melody regarding the ever-present danger of slipping through life, our memories included. A deep, ranging, emotional track, this is one of those songs that has truly isolated and recreated a deep, forgotten emotion. Powerful enough to change your mood, listen to this track on those slow introspective days, when you are feeling nostalgic or contemplative.

“The Prostitute,” a country-esque reflection of a love lost and the despairing days to follow, follows as the seventh clip in their live performance. Sounding like an echo which would easily haunt the hollowed character they created, this track begins as an acoustic-driven, harmony between Kyle and Aviva, leading gradually into an unexpected, but well-placed (in terms of arrangement) bluesy, electric guitar instrumental. After an acoustic heavy set of songs, this electric, old country styled song is refreshing and rejuvenating.

A testament to the necessity of faith, the following track swiftly moves between quick, folksy, Appalachian vibes to an auroral, symphonic style, to a subdued piano-driven melody. “The Flood” is another wonderful, biblical ballad- specifically about Noah and the building of the ark- on Blue Shift that you cannot help but love.

Aptly, “The Returning of the Doves,” regarding the story about the dove which returns to Noah’s ark with an olive leaf, concludes the album. Eerie — vocally and musically, what with the prominent inclusion of a cello, occasional insertion of an organ, and eventually the addition of a gritty electric guitar — heavier, and more gothic than all the preceding tracks, this track is a strong, provocative, cliff-hanging finish.

Blue Shift is an unforgettable folk album that will ultimately appeal to fans of Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, and all those in between. Incredible every track of the way, Blue Shift has left me in eager anticipation of Evans’ next genre-conceptual albums: Red, a country-rock album, and Green, a more classic pop album. As for now, Evans offers that Echo Bloom will never be wholly finished with any album, providing us fortunate listeners a glimpse into how music changes for its creators over time: “Art isn’t ever really done, it just gets taken away from you at some point. At that moment it’s frozen in time. Blue Shift is the breathing snapshot of what Blue is turning into.” For more information about Echo Bloom and Blue Shift, you can read my interview with band-leader Kyle Evans below.

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GO: What is the inspiration behind this album?

KE: Music’s kind of a weird form of art, because unlike something like literature you have to be able to both write AND perform your work. The versions of albums we end up hearing and loving are usually these sculptures that are whittled out of hours of material and months of work. But then after that crafted recording is released you start playing those songs live and they quickly become something quite different. A live album is like a breathing snapshot of what a set of work looks like in real life. Think of it like the difference between the version of the more manicured version of themselves that people present on Facebook and the real person that lives and walks around. I constructed our album Blue over a year, and in some cases we know the songs a lot better now than when we originally recorded it. So Blue Shift is a way for us to share where that stuff is at now.

GO: When you were first creating Blue, what were you looking to create- what kind of feeling or sound? Did it start like how we hear it today, or has it evolved?

KE: I went to Germany to write the songs and arrangements for Blue, and I only took a few records to try to really limit my sphere of influence. My world became Pet Sounds (The Beach Boys), Ys (Joanna Newsom), and Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel). A lot of the arrangements were coming from that core of work. I wanted to create a sonic space that was orchestral and lush, with big harmonies and textures, but everything deriving from basic folk songs. It was a sound I heard in my head, and I wanted to figure out how to get that into reality. So when I came back from Germany I had written a full score for the album – every string part, every vocal line. so while recording everything took a while it wasn’t particularly complicated, and it ended up being pretty similar to what I was hearing. The live album is a completely different story.

GO: Did performing the songs from Blue for the live album Blue Shift change the feeling or energy of the songs for you?

KE: Wildly. The record Blue was really specific – everything was scored out. We used that score as a base, and added to it. There was a lot more improvisation and a LOT more percussion. Some songs became faster, some became slower. And recording and performing in front of a live audience undeniably adds energy to everything.

GO: Do you have a song that’s particularly close to the heart from this album?

KE: The live version of Veins ended up being really exciting live. There’s some time stretched audio that lays out at the end and in the recorded version that takes center stage. In the live version on Blue Shift I asked the string section to improvise over that, and it’s pretty beautiful.

GO: I saw on your website that Echo Bloom is a play on the phrase “Echo Boom.” What particularly led you to adopt this as your band name?

KE: We were a gardening family growing up and I’ve got fond memories of playing in the dirt as a kid, watching beans and squash and other vegetables grow. So in addition to the play on words, the name reminds me of that, which I like.

GO: Who and what has influenced your music?

KE: Lately I’ve been influenced more by painting than by other music. A friend gave me a yearly pass to MoMA, so I’ve been taking my lunch there usually once a week. I always end up in the Rothko and Water Lilies rooms, look up close to the paintings and then looking from further back. It makes me think of the different layers of songs – the root of things is the folk song, acoustic instrument and voice. That’s the raw subject matter of the painting. Then the production and the arrangement are the style. Is it this gauzy haze or is it more stoic and straight? The actual realization is the beauty of the brushstrokes – something you can listen to up close, and equally appreciate from afar.

GO: Had music always been the plan?

KE: I thought I wanted to be an architect for a while. I was really inspired by the Modulor system of Le Corbusier, and some of the ideas in the Bauhaus school. But architecture isn’t populist – music is the great folk art of our time, and that resonates more with where I am artistically.

GO: Have you seen your musical direction changing since forming?

KE: Every time I write a song I learn a different way of doing it, and the same applies with albums and recordings. I think I’ve become more comfortable with collaborating and doing things quickly. The idea of slowly crafting something for years isn’t something I’ll return to soon. I’m more attracted to the idea of setting up arrangement notes, creating a defined palette, cache of colors, and frame, and letting a group of really talented people help me color it in.

GO: If you were to describe Echo Bloom in a simple word choice, what would you say?

KE: Hmmm – simple word choice. Does that mean a binary choice? How about: Echo Bloom – sound or vision. Story and shape. You and me. Color and movement.

GO: Do you and your bandmates share or have other hobbies besides, obviously, making music?

KE: Tons. I’m a big camper, and really like backpacking (I’m an Eagle scout, so I spent a fair amount of my youth outside). Jason Mattis (our bass player) is a pretty serious mountain biker. Aviva Jaye (our keyboardist and alto vocalist) sees about every movie that comes out and spends a lot of time volunteering, because she’s basically an incredible person. Josh Grove (our electric guitarist) is a guitar maker, so he makes his own instruments from scratch. Steve Sasso (our banjo player and a tenor vocalist) has pursued standup comedy in the past. Everybody plays with lots of people – we keep really busy.

GO: What’s your favorite memory of your musical journey so far?

KE: Finishing the live performance of Blue Shift, and seeing the entire thing come together into this big beautiful thing, was this really climactic, wonderful experience. Most of the time things like that are over as soon as they happen, but because we videotaped the entire thing I’ve been reliving that for the last 8 months while I was editing everything.

GO: What are your hopes for Echo Bloom in the near future?

KE: We’re going to Europe in the Fall, assuming our crowd-funding campaign gets there. We won a contest given out by this German record label, who’s booked us on a 28 date tour of Germany, Holland, and Belgium. It’s going to be a huge step for us as a band. Outside of that future, I’ve got a hazy plan to do a song-for-song covers project of the Anthology of American Folk Music, with each song being a collaboration with a new local musician. I’ll get to that someday!

GO: Do you have any upcoming shows that we can look forward to?

KE: We’ll be playing The Bitter End in New York in July, and then in Massachusetts in August. We play in NYC and DC pretty frequently — and you can always check our show schedule at http://www.echobloom.com/live/

GO: Do you have any additional thoughts you would like to add?

KE: Thanks for the thoughtful questions, and for the support! If anybody’s interested in helping us get to Europe, we’re running a crowd-funding campaign at www.pledgemusic.com/projects/echo-bloom-european-tour/ (and every little bit helps!). I’m also really passionate about the campaign to abolish the death penalty in the US, and would encourage people to look at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty at http://www.ncadp.org/. - Gadfly

Kyle Evans paid a visit to an exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum of Art called People of the 20th Century, a photo-documentary project by the German artist August Sander, a few years ago. He decided to pick ten of the pictured characters and turn them into songs. It took him years to compose the tracks for the album that would become Jamboree by his project Echo Bloom. Recording went very fast over a three day period in May of 2008 at Omega Studios in the Washington DC area.

Jamboree sounds like Edward Hopper set to music: dark, sparse and compelling. File under Nick Cave, Johnny Dowd or Tom Waits. Evans writes highly literate lyrics, like these from The English Teacher:

I woke up dreaming, satiated
For TS Eliot had kissed my shoulderblade
I lied silent, alone with thoughts about what he’s dreaming
I want him lost in Milton’s paradise
Maya Angelou’s perfect rhythm, or Billy Collins
Just not some sweaty school gymnasium

The digital version of the album is served with matching wallpapers for each track, a illustrated lyrics sheet and tablature. If you are a lawyer, this comes close to full disclosure, right?

Echo Bloom:
Kyle Evans: guitar, vocals, Melodica, piano on The Murderer
Jason Mattis: bass
Dan Roberts: piano, Rhodes, B3, glockenspiel, celesta
Shareef Taher: percussion


Jamboree is licensed through Creative Commons. Buy it from iTunes, eMusic, Amazon or Groupie Tunes (Ringtones). Or cut out the middle man and visit Echo Bloom's Emporium.

Tracks:
The President
The English Teacher
The Murderer
The Businessman
The Trucker
The Dancer
The Preacher
The Performer
The Prostitute
The Weather Forecaster - Here Comes the Flood

In the mind of Kyle Evans, a.k.a. Echo Bloom, great art is the result of careful process. And after a year spent on his new album, “Jamboree“, he’s got the goods to back up his ideas. Equal parts composer and music theorist, Kyle’s success with Rosemont Family Reunion (from which spun off the band Junior League) and his research into digital music formats has led him to the development of some eyebrow-raising tools for musicphiles and a collection of songs that represent his interests in music meaningfully related to the process that creates it.

“Jamboree” is inspired by the remaining photos from August Sander‘s “People of the 20th Century“, currently on exhibition at the Getty Museum. Through a carefully categorized series of black and white stills of various members of society, Sanders creates a synchronicity of method and medium, a technique Kyle expands upon and enriches with musical “sketches” for some of Sander’s subjects and some of his own. The President, the murderer and the humble weather forecaster make appearances, each represented by a different genre.

“Some of the best art I know of combines organization and representation into unbelievably cohesive pieces with multiple entry points,” explains Kyle. “In this case, when it’s done well, there’s something created for people who like taxonomy and people who like black and white photography.”

Kyle is joined on the new album by Shareef Taher on percussion, Jason Mattis (of the Welchers) on bass, and Dan Roberts (of the Dan Roberts Trio) on keyboards. Recorded and mixed in just 4 days, the group worked from initial concepts and then were turned loose to let individual talent influence each track. “The only barrier between what I want and what I get is how well I can communicate,” Kyle explains. “They’re that good.”

A working example of the communication Kyle uses is the iMap, best described in his own words as: “…a tool for creative taxonomy that considers what you say (narrative) and how you say it (execution).” Used in a way to visually represent a piece of music (or any artwork), each of the ten tracks on “Jamboree” can be related to whatever music was influential during its composition. Building on the concept of music as “an inherently social pursuit”, Kyle has also developed “Project Nevins“, the end result being a new kind of online audio player that aims to help people communicate about music in a more open and efficient way. For more on these new approaches to songwriting and social listening, check out his online notebook documenting the creation of “Jamboree” and his other projects.

“Echo Bloom” will be performing at their CD release party at the Rock and Roll Hotel on Wednesday, August 20. Featured below is an exclusive track from “Jamboree“, entitled “The Preacher“. - All Our Noise

The debut album Jamboree is a gorgeous confection of a variety of influences. On 'The Trucker,' the stand-out track for me on this album, he even manages to mix both country and reggae. (I never thought i'd hear that either). - 17 Seconds

Echo Bloom is a vehicle for Brooklyn based songwriter Kyle Evans whose previous releases have featured an album inspired by German photographer August Sanders. Blue is the first of an intended trilogy described by Evans as “chamber pop (Blue), another country/shoegaze (Red), and classic pop (Green).” The songs on Blue are basically acoustic songs performed on guitar and variously feature bass, piano, organ, banjo, mandolin, glockenspiel, autoharp and percussion. The chamber element consists of arrangements featuring cello, violin, viola and French horn which adorn several songs. Most striking however are the vocals as Evans possesses a potentially great voice, cracked and rough hewn, stuffed full of emotion it can be tender or tough. He surrounds this rough diamond of a voice with a brace of singers who offer a choral accompaniment or duet with him and the end result is sometimes spectacular.
Added to this Evans turns out to be a very fine songwriter and some of the moments approach the summit of the likes of Van Morrison at his best. The lyrics of Firecracker are brief but encapsulate a moment so well as he sings
“On the streets of the Capitol the fireworks echo and bloom flowering down into red and then green and then blue and for a second I could see your face near In that moment of light I saw a tear on the side of your cheek you leaned you head onto my shoulder and whispered to me “How’s life so beautiful, and yet so brief?””
Evans surrounds these words with a great arrangement that swirls and eddies under the vocals, a piano plays a stately solo and he ends up scatting just as Morrison might do if this were on Veedon Fleece. It’s not an isolated moment as all of the nine songs here all have flashes of brilliance to them. The opener Annunciation is done acapella and introduces us to Evans’ voice and those of his fine collaborators ( Aviva Jaye, Zachary Stains, Brian Mummert, Steve Sasso, Monica Jo Montany and Kate Vargas). Cedar Beach is a fantasy encounter with a ghost from the sea with bucolic strings and wind and on listening to this I was reminded of the recent album by Birds of Chicago as vocally they inhabit similar territory. Water and the elements feature heavily in many of the songs and The Flood adds an almost biblical dimension while The Returning Of The Doves has allusions to the Noah myth. A remarkable song Doves starts with an acoustic guitar before the band kick in and build to a climax with apocalyptic electric guitar thrashing standing in for a furious mother nature.
Having heard this I really can’t wait to hear the rest of this proposed trilogy and I’d suggest that you grab the opportunity to listen to and download some of the songs the band offer for free on their website before you are compelled to buy the album. On a local note we were impressed that the video for Fireworks was shot on Bute. Hopefully they’ll visit Scotland again sometime soon. - Blabber n' Smoke

I’ve changed my mind on walls. And it’s a good thing too. Whether it’s songwriting, booking, or practicing – ours is a business of walls, and how we react when we smash against them. My realization a few years ago was this: whenever you hit one of these walls you should feel really grateful. Like jumping up and down in the street grateful. Why?

Because if you realize you’ve hit a wall, then you’re presented with a golden opportunity to not waste time trying to flesh out an idea that isn’t going anywhere. And time is really our only limiting factor.

Because when you hit a wall, your instinct is telling you that you’re working too hard, or too dumbly. And that instinct – your id – really knows what it’s doing. It’s just that sometimes your brain gets in the way. Which means that you get to:

Make a choice. Instead of just focusing on the execution, you can take a step back and focus on why you’re doing what you’re doing from a larger perspective. And nine times out of ten hitting that wall is telling you that the path you’ve worn has reached its conclusion. It’s time to pick a new direction, and head off into the tangled weeds on the side of the road, which are so often far more interesting than the path you’ve been walking.

This doesn’t mean you have to root around blindly for a new direction. Over the years I’ve found a few techniques that help me take these walls and turn them into things I look forward to. One of the first things I do when I get stuck is make an iMap.

The basis of the iMap boils down to whether you view a piece of art as something that’s wholly original, or as a product of all of the influences of the artist. In my estimation, as artists we’re sponges. The fantastic chorus idea you had seems like it came from some cosmic radio station you temporarily tuned into, until you hear a deep cut off that Traveling Wilburys record you listened to in middle school and see a little similarity. It doesn’t mean that we’re not original – just that we’re the product of our influences being driven through our unique personalities. If you accept that, you can use it to your advantage.

From the blog post where I originally introduced the concept:

The iMap is a tool for creative taxonomy that considers two independent variables – what you say (narrative), and how you say it (execution). The relative positions of these variables on a concrete to abstract scale determines a work of art’s position within ‘the realm of consumption’ – the field that the iMap works on. To fall within the realm of public consumption, pieces can be abstract in execution or narrative, but not in both (pieces that are abstract in both fall into the avant garde category).

So say you’re stuck on a song. What are the different influences that are going into it? A little Nick Drake, a little Cocteau Twins? Where do those fall on the spectrum? Map them out and realize that your piece is living at the intersection of those. Then ask yourself the following questions:

What are the similarities and differences of the influences? In the iMap, Bob Dylan and Sigur Rós are mirror images of each other. Dylan uses complex narrative and simple execution, while Sigur Rós are the inverse. That point of comparison is useful. In that case, you realize they both use a similar type of contrast in their work.

iMap

What does the song that lives at the intersection sound like? Looking at your influences and where they all collide sometimes helps you to realize you’re not writing the song you thought you were.

What’s a different piece from that artist that’s similar stylistically to the song you’re being influenced by, but not the same thing? Looking at a 1 generation hop leaves you in similar ground but can push you in interesting new directions and generate new ideas. Maybe make it more “Down by the River” than “Cowgirl in the Sand”.

You can also use the iMap for raw idea generation. I’ll often think of some artists who are really different (Run D.M.C., Slipknot, Peter, Paul, and Mary – go!), plot them out on the grid, and then think of their relative similarities. You’ll often find interesting intersections that you wouldn’t have seen at first blush, and can start something from an interesting perspective.

Give it a shot, and let me know what you come up with. Here’s an iMap for one of my recent songs:

iMap example

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Echo Bloom (formerly Rosemont Family Reunion) was formed in 2009, headed by lead vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Kyle Evans. Originally from Florida, where he was brought up in the southern Bible Belt, Evans wrote the Blue album with lush orchestral textures and chamber instruments, creating what he coins as “folkestral” (orchestral folk) music. The album is filled with Biblical allusions, and Evans implies a personal spirituality at its core. “The album is about making your own myths – finding your own religion. In many of the songs, people blur with flora and fauna, implying the interconnectedness of everything. That’s my religion – one where everything is bound together.” Blue is the first of a three-album series, including Red (country/shoegaze) and Green (classic pop) which are set to be released separately in 2014. Echo Bloom is currently based in Brooklyn, New York and will be touring the US and Europe in the coming year. - American Songwriter

Echo Bloom aka Brooklyn-based orchestral folk musician Kyle Evans takes a desperate yet ultimately sweet journey on his keys-sprinkled new single, "Leaving Charleston" (streaming below). With the warm vocal drawl of a country song and the drum-racing jubilance of a Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band track, "Leaving Charleston" engagingly sets a somewhat ominous tale of uncertain travelling lovers against sunny instrumentation, the hope of a bright future carrying the characters forward. The South-hailing Evans, whose Echo Bloom moniker derives from a term used to describe the offspring of baby boomers, doesn't just intriguingly use counterpoint with "Leaving Charleston" but crafts a simply pleasant, warm cut. While he doesn't seem to have any New York shows coming up, Kyle Evans will play at Philadelphia's Xfinity Live this Saturday (10.10) and then go on an extensive tour of Germany from late October through all of November. - Zach Weg - The Deli