It’s rare to find siblings who share a gift for music. Acts such as The Jackson 5, Arcade Fire and Kings of Leon have gained major commercial success but, even with these examples, it is rare to find four siblings all under the age of 21 with musical talent in a single band. This is the case for pop-quartet Echosmith.
Echosmith is made up of the Sierota siblings: Jamie, Noah, Sydney and Graham. The siblings hail from Los Angelas and garnered a lot of buzz while touring the country on the Vans Warped Tour. Echosmith recently released their debut album “Taking Dreams.”
The album starts with the lead single, “Come Together.” The song is upbeat and a perfect album opener. It immediately sets the tone for the album, which includes a heavy use of harmonies utilizing lead singer Sydney’s strong voice, and the support of siblings Jamie and Noah. This song stands out as one of the better songs on the album because it follows the band’s tested and proven formula. This track is followed by, “Let’s Love,” which includes sweet lyrics concerning love and youth that are a popular topic for the band.
The album’s third track is “Cool Kids,” which was featured on their three-song summer sampler and has grown to be a fan favorite. The song’s dream-like sound carries the listener and is bound to entertain radio listeners, while serious music fans will notice that the chorus takes up over three minutes of a four-minute song.
“March Into The Sun” is clearly a song that appeals to the younger demographic of the bands fan base. With that said, it still manages to be one of the catchier songs of the album. Though it relies heavily on the chorus, which falls in line with the rest of the album, it manages to stay light enough to encourage a head nod.
The album’s fifth track “Come With Me” seems almost redundant by the time it plays. The album’s repetitive nature takes a toll on the listener. The lack of structure on the album is clear by this point, a pitfall of many debut artists. This is to be expected by a group without a single member who can legally drink. Thankfully, the pace of the album is slowed down with acoustic ballad “Bright.” The song puts forth a nice effort lyrically comparing young love to the stars, constellations and planets.
The album makes a switch back to the high pace and harmony heavy sound with the title track, “Talking Dreams.” The energy Echosmith will most certainly be known for as their career progresses, comes in full force on this track. Almost reminiscent of the first song, it’s sure to please listeners who are looking for that same sound.
“Tell Her You Love Her,” the eighth track, is a sweet song in nature, but it barely stands out in this album especially when followed by the ninth track “Ran Off In The Night,” which does little to distinguish itself.
The track features a repeated phrase, “Won’t you come away with me, won’t you come away,” and sparse lyrics that only serve as space to fill until the next chorus.
The tenth song, “Nothing’s Wrong” is alarmingly similar to the previous track. With a repeated section of the chorus and the use of crowd effect harmony, the songs blend into a mess of average.
The penultimate song on the album “Safest Place” once again fails to distinguish itself, featuring only a lengthy chorus and sweet sentiment lyrics. The last song, “Surround You,” actually sticks out due to its acoustic beginnings, which sprout into one of the more interesting songs on the album. While still keeping to their style, the song develops between the first and second chorus jumping between acoustic and the experimental pop sound found on earlier songs.
“Talking Dreams” as a debut album won’t offend any listeners due to the band’s general talent as musicians, which is considerable. The repetitive feeling of this album will leave any serious music listeners feeling disappointed. The lack of structure allowed the album to just tell the same story in different ways.
Echosmith showed patches of potential on this album, solidifying their up-and-coming status, but also showed they have a long way to go until they have officially arrived.
