Ekko - Clear

Tara Nome Doyle describes her music a mix of "art pop" and "dark folk". While her previous long-players' central concepts were more abstract, here she decided to challenge herself by writing a set of very personal songs. Ekko's overall theme is one of losing and rediscovering your voice. It takes it's name from an essay by Norwegian author Lena Lindgrens, which uses the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus to explore modern day "influencer / follower" phenomena. The myth seemed to act as an analogy for Doyle's concerns that she was listening more to the feedback of others than her own internal creative impulses. The music mixes acoustic keys and guitars, and electronically processed palettes, but the focus is always Doyle's voice. Her lyrics reflect crises of confidence, brought about by personal and professional change. The struggle of shaking off society's shackles of conformity, and instead staying true to your own course. Before writing, Doyle says that she was initially paralysed with self-doubt and "stuck between accepting defeat or starting anew. " The songs shift between a feeling of being totally lost through to hopeful transformation. The pieces' protagonist facing fears to embrace change and the energy it ultimately brings. Listening to the end result recalls another ancient myth, that of the Phoenix rising from the ashes.