Brussels-based Echo Collective’s rich textures and arrangements have elevated everything from Hollywood soundtracks to live dance performances to studio albums. The ensemble has forged an enviable reputation in the post-classical world: sought out for their instrumental and arranging expertise by icons such as A Winged Victory For The Sullen and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson, or lending their interpretative intuition to genres as diverse as alt.rock, synth-pop and black metal. Finally, an album of their own material, The See Within, confirms Echo Collective are equally inspired creators, using their past accomplishments as a springboard to a new, illuminating vision. From brief, singular themes to lengthier, shifting and questing episodes, this masterclass in composition, expression and technique bridges intimacy and grandeur in line with the most rewarding of post-classical works.
“An inflection point is a time of change. Whether by choice or by accident, these moments mean things can’t go back to how they were before.”
Echo Collective’s second single, Inflection Point marks a point of no return. The opener to their debut album of original material, The See Within, the track expresses the ensemble’s transition from collaborators to creators. Here, each individual’s mastery of their own instrument and their deep knowledge of classical music is subsumed by a larger intention; the desire to shape a new musical language based on their shared experiences and musical synergy. It’s a sublime showcase of the way people perform together, instinctively and organically. Stretching strings define Echo Collective’s mood from now on; there’s a palpable tension, a yearning, that hints at the depth of human emotions the ensemble is committed to diving into. Ambient and soft textures give the track intimacy. Inflection Point is the palette of colours, a display of the shades and tones, that will guide the ensemble in their compositions moving forward.
LIVE
- 6/11, Ancienne Belgique, Brussels
Listen to 'Inflection Point' HERE.