LOS ANGELES, CA- When they were in their teens, Echosmith released their debut album, Talking Dreams, a terrific example of dance-pop perfection with a bit of an 80’s rock vibe sprinkled on top. 5 years after their release, Echosmith has evolved, losing a member (eldest sibling Jamie Seriota left the band to start a family) and literally growing up, and released an EP Inside A Dream on September 29th, 2017.
While Echosmith fans have been longing for an official full length, Inside A Dream gives just enough to assuage fans’ ravenous appetites. The sonics are a little more synth than rock, and the tones and themes are definitely more mature, but it’s polished and catchy and still features Sydney’s sweet vocals. If there’s a track on the EP that gave me a “Cool Kids” vibe it’s “Future Me”, but I dig the overall new direction. Their latest release titled “Over My Head” (not on the EP) was dropped in March:
Touring in support of Inside A Dream, Echosmith wrapped up their gigs with a hometown show at the Fonda Theatre. It’s been a few years since I last saw them live, but all I can say is that this family knows hot to put on a show, and their performance was nothing short of fantastic.
Both Noah and Graham have stepped up their stage presence, but really stealing the show was the lone sister in the group, Sydney. She was barely a teenager the last time I saw her perform live (she’s now old enough to buy her own drinks), but the strength of Echosmith’s live show rests heavily on Sydney’s petit shoulders. Clearly comfortable in her own skin and style, she commanded the stage and the audience’s attention with every hand motion, stride across the stage and whack of the drums upstage.
Her voice has changed as well in that it’s richer and … well … more mature, than I recalled from a few years back. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why the music has changed a little, but there’s no question that she has the range and breath support to belt out some powerful melodies.
With confetti flying from cannons at the outset, Echosmith’s set was filled with energy and excitement. Featuring almost all of the songs from their EP, and their most popular songs from their debut album, the audience was dancing and singing along throughout the entirety of the show.
The band’s sound was also particularly grand. Supplementing their sound with two additional players (an extra keyboardist and and extra guitarist), they didn’t have to rely on any backing tracks to help fill out their sound. Noah and Graham are clearly able players, but the addition of the additional musicians definitely gave their sonics an immediacy and charged livelihood.
By the time the band came on for their encore of their 100MM youtube viewed song “Cool Kids”, the band partied with their tour mates, lobbing huge balloons into the crowd and popping them to an explosion of confetti. The playfulness in that moment reminded me that this family is still young and still know how to have fun like cool kids. Hopefully, they keep that fun, freewheeling attitude in the years and albums to come.
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LIVE CLIPS
Echosmith @ The Fonda 5/12/18. Thoughts and photos coming to @BlurredCulture. pic.twitter.com/b2lkruwROj
— Derrick K. Lee (@methodman13) May 21, 2018
Echosmith @ The Fonda 5/12/18. Thoughts and photos coming to @BlurredCulture. pic.twitter.com/ASkfz8xQH6
— Derrick K. Lee (@methodman13) May 21, 2018
Echosmith @ The Fonda 5/12/18. Thoughts and photos coming to @BlurredCulture. pic.twitter.com/9V5GHgaB4S
— Derrick K. Lee (@methodman13) May 21, 2018
Echosmith @ The Fonda 5/12/18. Thoughts and photos coming to @BlurredCulture. pic.twitter.com/nwgqm0NGeV
— Derrick K. Lee (@methodman13) May 21, 2018
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