Melody’s Echo Chamber – Unclouded
Melody’s Echo Chamber, aka French musician Melody Prochet, today announces her fourth studio album, Unclouded – due for release on December 5 via Domino.
Unclouded sees Melody’s Echo Chamber embarking on a life-affirming new chapter. The title of the album was lifted from a quote from the Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, about achieving equilibrium: “You must see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good. Pledge yourself to neither side.”
Metaphorical dark skies have given way to sunshine… at least for now. “I used to feel nostalgic growing into adulthood,” Melody says, “but now that I understand that concept of impermanence, I don’t take it as personally anymore.” That brighter outlook is reflected in the record’s delectable grooves as much as its more earthbound lyrics – the instinct to escape has been replaced by a sense of being with nature in the present.
Today’s announcement arrives alongside the release of new single “In The Stars”; it’s a song of perfect balances, from the close harmonies from Melody to the scintillating interaction between the guitar and strings. It arrives alongside a dreamy and hazy video by longterm collaborator Diane Sagnier.
“The music I create unusually inhabits the liminal zone between realism and fables,” says Melody. “But the more experience I have of living, the deeper I love life and the less I need to escape. If my heart still belongs to the blue hour, it also feels like I’ve gathered up all the pieces of myself that were scattered everywhere and glued them together with gold like Japanese kintsugi.” (Kintsugi is a Japanese art where broken pottery is put back together with gold or silver lacquer).
Unclouded’s impressive cast includes Swedish maestro Sven Wunder (Danny Brown) who co-produced the record and contributed to the writing, bringing his unique sonic palette to the richly-textured canvas; Josefin Runsteen on strings, who brings her avant-garde smarts to the tableau; Dina Ögon’s Daniel Ögen on guitar and Love Orsan on bass who Melody describes as “masters of the velvet groove”; British drummer Malcolm Catto, collaborator with Madlib and DJ Shadow, and the powerhouse behind The Heliocentrics; frequent collaborator Reine Fiske (of Dungen) who laid down some stunning, Johnny Marr-esque guitar parts that can be found throughout the record.
Last but not least, Leon Michels – the Wu-Tang, The Carters, Norah Jones and Clairo collaborator – worked with Melody on the album’s closer and recently released single “Daisy,” a sparkling pop song plucked from the ether. El Michels Affair’s Grammy-winning mixer Jens Jungkurth, was drafted in to bring everything to life.
Unclouded is brimming with the positive energy that propelled Prochet across the world on Melody Echo Chamber’s lauded “comeback” tour of 2022. On returning to the Alps of High Provence, she began writing in earnest. What inspired her? “My deeper love for the living experience,” she says. “I still get ups and downs but I’m faster at getting back to more harmonious feelings, enjoying the beauty of transient things and the bittersweet feeling of their impermanence.”
Unclouded is an album that celebrates the present moment, whatever state we find ourselves in.
Live dates
April 14 – Lido, Berlin, DE
April 15 – VEGA, Copenhagen, DK
April 17 – Botanique, Orangerie, Brussels, BE
April 18 – Gebäude 9, Cologne, DE
April 19 – Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, NL
April 21 – Electric Ballroom, London, UK
April 22 – L’Aéronef, Lille, FR
April 23 – Le Trianon, Paris, FR
April 24 – Stereolux, Nantes, FR
April 25 – Le 106, Rouen, FR
May 9 – TBA, Austin, TX
May 11 – Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL
May 12 – Black Cat, Washington, DC
May 13 – Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA
May 14 – Royale, Boston, MA
May 15 – Webster Hall, New York, NY
May 17 – TBA, Salt Lake City, UT
May 19 – Belasco, Los Angeles, CA
May 20 – Bimbo’s 365, San Francisco, CA
May 22 – Revolution Hall, Portland, OR
May 23 – The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
#melodysechochamber