Echo Us
The Windsong Spires
(Echo Us)

With sweeping keys, high fluty-sounds, and echo-y vocals, Echo Us presents “We Seek the Descending Levers,” the opener of The Windsong Spires. This one gets a good head of steam not so far into its 8 minutes plus with Tangerine Dream-like arpeggiated keys, single-note guitar noodling, and percussion, all pretty much delivered—as it is throughout here–by Ethan Matthew. He’s helped from vocalist Charlotte Engler and percussionist Andrew Greene along the way.

“If You Can Imagine,” informed by some cool drumming from Greene and big bass moments, sees Engler and Matthews matching their vocals even better than before on a solid little guitar-trilling groover. The piano on “The Night Sky” is just yummy, showcasing more of Matthew’s abilities (he just doesn’t play a mean Mike Oldfield-sounding guitar), while “Squals” certainly shows off more of that guitar playing.

“Under The Smallest Sky,” the nearly 12-minute-long ender, opens with some piano and classical guitar backing and Matthew’s finest vocal. Not too long in, a marching beat picks up, and we follow the guitar melody matching the vocal, then things get positively rocking with some spikey guitar moments and the addition of Engler. About 7-minutes in, as any good long prog song would, there’s another change, as chorus strings plump the depths of the production, then the tight-sounding snare gets under the layering of guitar and keys, and we get more of Matthew’s vocal. It all ends with big spacey synth moments.

Multitalented Portland-based Ethan Matthews indeed delivers a singular modern prog music expression with The Windsong Spires.