by Ljubinko Zivkovic (@zivljub)
French artist Melody Prochet, working under the moniker of Melody's Echo Chamber, has been making some serious waves among the fans of the good old (and newly fashioned) psych rock for a while. Actually, to be precise, exactly ten years, when she released her initial self-titled debut album. The other two albums that saw the light of the day, Bon Voyage from 2018 and Emotional Eternal from early in 2022, rose the interest in the project due to the excellent quality of Prochet's songwriting and her ability to catch the essence of psychedelic rock with quite some ease.
Of course, the debut album didn't lag behind in quality in any way, so Prochet decided to re-release it now. But where does this “new” album, Unfold, fit in then? Actually, Unfold is something of a lost album, recorded right after her debut with Tame Impala's Kevin Parker, who co-produced and played along with Prochet on the seven songs. Now Prochet has decided to formally release the album right along with the debut. Whatever the reasons Prochet had to delay the release of this album are irrelevant now, as all the seven tracks here, from the opening “Pêcheuse de Lune” to closing “The Cure,” show that Prochet has her finger, or more precisely, her ear on the essence what psychedelic pop, old or new should sound like.
It’s no coincidence that she’s paired with Parker, an artist also gifted with the same sense as Prochet. On tracks like “Ocean Road” the duo operate as though they are musical twins, with Prochet's vocals and guitars leading the way. Yet, throughout, it is her songwriting that shows she was a fully-formed artist early on, with or without Parker. It is great that this gem finally sees the light of day.