Sandor Gavin - Echoes

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Sandor Gavin’s Echoes is a gorgeously melancholic, retro journey through beautifully layered synth soundscapes accompanied by first-rate songwriting, excellent guest performances and a melodic sensibility that reflects memory, love and hope. The artist and his guests evoke deep emotion and express a romantic dream tinged by loss. The end result is an album that engages me and satisfies my musical cravings.

At the centre of Echoes is Sandor Gavin’s songwriting. He creates lyrics that touch me and carry me to nostalgic places, while still exploring all of the complicated emotions that make us human. The music is washed with affection, memory and hurt while it takes the listener on a journey through strong imagery and evokes all of the complicated feelings that come with the experience of living life.

Another outstanding part of Echoes is the way finely crafted melodies interact with Sandor Gavin’s compositional abilities. While the music exudes 1980s synth-pop vibes on the surface, digging deeper reveals a strong sense of atmosphere and moments of exceptional beauty. All of the layered sounds weave together to produce ear-grabbing music. On top of that, the melodies are scintillating and emotive, unfolding with grace and affecting feeling.

I also want to mention the cast of guest artists with whom Sandor Gavin has worked on Echoes. Each performer brings their own distinctive sound to the project while remaining true to the heart of the music. I’ve enjoyed their contributions and found myself sinking more deeply into the songs as a result.

My Favourite Songs Analyzed

“Ghost of a Memory” starts with a lightly drifting synth brimming with opalescent light and a thudding rhythmic pattern. Weldon's voice is full of velvety emotion and dreamy recollection as a flowing synth wraps around it. The solid low end guides the music as arpeggiating notes twirl and fluttering keys shift past.

Weldon's voice reaches out, capturing me in the words of regret. The guitar adds its own gently touching melody which carries loss deeply. The drums add a sharp cadence as the song moves forward. The singing is full of naked hurt despite Weldon’s tenderness.

Notes like glittering stars shine in the sonic firmament as the punchy beat presses forward. Weldon embraces the emotional core of the song as richly burnished notes beam out moonlight. As the words unfold with poignant sensations, the guitar eddies with loose-limbed, graceful motion before the song throbs to an end with chimes flickering and the rhythm driving.

As our storyteller looks out across the water “at a secret highway where we used to go,” he waits for the sun to set and “splash color across the waves.” There’s something deeply familiar throbbing around him like “the sound of a distant drum.”

He and the song’s subject had a love that was “sparked from the friction of passion,” something entirely real. Now it has become “just a ghost of a memory.” They had their time together, but the other person cut him deeply.

The narrator says, “you took my heart, you took the better part of me.” Now he finds himself lost in the pouring rain. He points out that he had a plan and the future was “there beside me.” Every night the song’s subject was there to guide him. They felt like home, but “now I don’t belong.”

Percussive solidity supports refulgent tones, carrying an encouraging melody as “Rise and Fall” begins. The phosphorescent notes pierce the music as Lucián’s satin voice carries the poignant words. As the chorus shimmers with positivity, the heavily driving low end gives form to the song. As Lucián catches the song’s spirit, he also catches my soul and propels me to the heights along with his melodic performance.

The synth drifts into a peacefully soothing segment in which it shines with sunlit hope. The singing’s smooth and full of aching sensations while the calming, diamond-like synth hovers. Lucián captures the wistful, contemplative nature of the words before the drum and bass pulsation hits hard again. Now the vocals climb with joyful energy as the low end shifts and the flaring notes spill brilliance through the song. Slap bass adds another quality to the low end as the song’s words ring out with pure uplift and the synth fills the music with illumination.

The storyteller asks, “Do you ever freeze the moment when it's time to face the pressure and take all that you came for?” He wonders if the song's subject ever feels alone in the middle of a crowded room, “when no one hears you screaming.” He points out that, “If you choose to believe we can face the shadows, step through the unknown.”

If you believe in him, the narrator assures us, “I will follow through the rise and fall.” He adds that with him it's possible to escape the shadows and make a mark. “We’ll rise above and stake our claim because this is our day.” He asks if you ever stop to wonder where time goes, “when the moment went asunder.”

Now the narrator adds, “If you brave the way alone, you keep one eye on the horizon as you're chasing the sun.” He assures the audience that, “If you stick with me, we can make it, we don't have to run.” He concludes by saying, “If you believe we can face the fire, we’ll light our shadows through the rise and fall.”

“Slave To Love” opens as luxuriant synth entangles warmly as synth chords gently flash. There’s a drum flourish and the throbbing retro drums jump into a dance floor friendly beat as they lock in with the dense bass.

LaVahn’s voice moves with silken ease as the disco beat pulsates and synth leaps out with electrifying light. The funky slap bass moves below LaVahn’s fervent performance, thrumming with desire as glittering chimes flit past and a prismatic synth sings the encouraging melody above the guiding drums and bass. Bubbly synth trickles past and radiant notes fly.

Now bass glides easily as medium-high synth flashes and the funky disco vibe returns while LaVahn’s luscious tones carry unrestrained need tinged with loss as the bass rumbles, broadly slipping synth moves and sparkling notes shine out. Drums press on while the vocal melody pours out amorous craving and now the polished synth spirals outward with the uplifting melody while slap bass grooves along and silence falls.

Our narrator asks when the song’s subject will look his way and come through for him. He’s “getting braver by the day” as he waits for the other person to invite him to “give me what I’m craving.” He’ll wait for the other person to show the hand they’re holding to him.

The storyteller asks why the other person is playing a game with him as they know he’s “burning up” for them. The song’s subject is making him run around and pulling his strings which has him behaving strangely. He adds that “you lead me on like I’m a slave for love.”

He asks when the other person will say his name and ease his heartache. He has waited patiently and prayed that the song’s subject will “find the time to give me what I’m asking for.” All he wants is some tenderness and a kiss. He asks why the other person has to lead him on and leave him “hanging on for a feeling.” The only conclusion to be reached is that “you’re deceiving ‘cause you never meant to be with me."

Rebounding, illuminating tones volley to kick off “Perfection”. The bass undulates as the lead singer's softly touching voice carries the affectionate melody above a heavy drumbeat. The singer’s sound is breath-warmed as it wraps around me like a warm blanket, while the prismatic chimes quiver and the drums throb along with the colossal bass.

The lead singer's voice is full of passionate caring and wonderment while the melody calls out on refulgent notes. Chimes spin a web of light while the sweeping notes glide and the beat throbs with luscious strength. The sung words are affecting as coiling notes exude sunlight and the low end drives on. The beat guides the delicate melody while ringing notes sparkle and the song ends on the feathery vocals.

Everything feels ideal for the storyteller as she talks about, “the way you hold me under the starlight tonight, the way your eyes meet mine, the way you kiss me ever so softly.” She craves being held more closely by the song's subject under the night sky. The realization hits her that, “I never knew that love could be so easy, it's perfect with you.” She adds that their hearts beat in unison.

The narrator muses, “It's all brand new, somehow it feels like the first time.” She goes on to say, “If only I knew that I could find someone like you.” She points out that tomorrow is a long way off so, “Why don't you stay a little bit longer, I want you to hold me and wait until the morning.”

As the song’s subject looks at her, our storyteller says it’s like, “I'm the only girl in the world.” She concludes by saying, “I've been lost all my life until I found you and I found heaven.”

“Not Enough” starts as smoothly pulsing drums and bass join Lucian’s echoing voice before a sliding house drumbeat and bassline give it a laidback heartbeat. Cutting synth joins the song as Lucián’s voice grows in power while shining synth adds lambency above the throbbing low end as it shapes the song. Sleepless Nights’ guitar adds a twanging, groovy layer to the music as it skips through the song.

Lucián’s performance is plaintive as it moves through the music, the melody hurting as a glassy synth glows with tender feelings and the dancing low end pushes on.There’s a broken twinge in the singing as the glimmering synth fills the song with light as the throbbing low end makes me want to dance all night and Lucian captures the lyrics with his vocal sensibilities. The music ends on the echoing vocals.

The storyteller says that he didn't mean to do the song’s subject any harm or hurt them. Now he says that it's “tearing me apart, it breaks my heart.” He goes on to say that every “little white lie” and secret he kept makes him live in regret. Now he’s “facing the consequences."

Our narrator asks the other person not to tell him that "it's not enough, when you know that I tried baby to be true.” He goes on to tell the other person that he got "caught up in love" and now he's trying to make it right by the song’s subject.

The storyteller texts to the other person, says that they shouldn't tell him. He's hard to love when "it's you that can be so cruel." He goes on to say that he has a problem with trust and he's got a feeling that for the song subject it isn't enough and it has been “eating me alive.”

Now the narrator is "tangled up in the web of lies" and has crossed the line. He adds that he didn't mean to hurt the other person and that “I left you for too long, hanging on to broken promises.” He is willing to change if “you're willing to forgive me.”

Metallic bells ring out above a steady drum pattern to open “Energy Fields”. There’s a lost, spectral quality in the bells as they tremble while the heavy low end pulsates. Floating tones drift past with the feeling of longing before the beat accelerates to a rushing throb and levitating notes sing with tremulous energy.

Trenton’s singular voice trembles above the glimmering notes and a punching low pulsation. The vocal melody is caressing and hurt, reaching out for a distant love, touching my heart as it does so. The chorus adds warmth, but the underlying emotion is melancholy. Dancing notes exude distant luminosity and the low end shapes the track. Horizons 1982 creates a lushly moving background to the song.

Trenton’s voice adds a vulnerable depth which is galvanizing while the pounding beat goes on. All of the wanting within Trenton's voice pours out and curls around the brilliant notes which intermingle and shine. Underneath everything, the insistent beat goes on. There’s a brief pause and whirling, mechanized-sounding synth moves while Trenton’s drifting expression captures ghostly remembrance and the tempo changes to a halftime pulse.

Mournful feelings pervade the song while the words float without drums and bass, touched by a wandering melodic pattern. The silken synth rises with need and caring as the vocals carry the song to an end.

On a frigid winter's night, the storyteller has a “twist of shadows” playing tricks on his mind. He sees the song's subject across the way and, “as you’re taking shape, I hear you calling out my name,” he feels their soul close to him, “somewhere out there in the mist.” He wonders if the other person is trying to let him know that they’re coming back to him.

There’s a shift in temperature and our narrator feels the song subject’s energy. He says, “you’re coming through in waves, you’re just a phase out of time until our stars align.” The other person can fight as hard as they like, but “the harder that you try, something pulls you back.” He sees their face in a mirror, but it isn’t the face he once knew and he points out, “something’s changed in your eyes, don’t deny.”

The storyteller can feel the song’s subject’s soul close to his and he says, “I think you tried to scream, it was just a whisper’s end.” He’s unable to bridge the gap between them and reach across to the other person’s side. He speaks of “dreams like whispers through the dark, lost in time and fading through the veil.” He is “trapped by feelings long gone by, forever reaching for light that shines through the other side.”

As the song concludes, our narrator says there’s still a story to be told and a song left unsung, so he’s standing on hallowed ground as he tries to “reach beyond the energy field.”

“Hard Times” starts with a steadily humming tone touched by hauntingly beautiful notes that rise with a breathy sonic sweep. Emily Jackson’s voice is sensitively moving as the low end tumbles with cascading strength. The bass rebounds with forceful energy and the singer carries a bittersweet melody, pulling me along with it.

A gleaming synth frolics with lively dynamism while Emily Jackson cries out with ardent emotion and the drumbeat rebounds. Choral voices soar while Emily Jackson imbues the lyrics with a sense of life. Crystal notes fall through the music as swaying pulsations throb beneath her heartfelt delivery and the drums flourish. A chiming synth carries a melody brimming with affection and need, unfolding with true feeling. Emily Jackson belts out the words with such ferocity and conviction that I am swept away before the song ends.

While looking for something to hold on to and waiting “for nothing, for you and only you,” our narrator has to “step back, watch the rainbow die.” She’s waiting to be called back to a time in which “I was all alone and had to start on my own.”

As she looks in the mirror, the storyteller tells herself she’s fine but continues to replay the other person’s memory over and over. In hard times, she thought it was “getting clearer again,” but it’s a hard fight and she’s still “here replaying you over again.”

Closing her eyes, our storyteller can “see a thousand miles,” but she asks to be stopped from looking because she’s falling behind. She pleads, “don’t turn away from me now ’cause I need you more than before.” She asks the song’s subject to hold her because, “I’m not sure who I am anymore.”

A jazz organ carries a heartbroken melody over slowly gliding notes to commence “Closure.” Sandor Gavin’s voice is piercingly emotional, carrying the melody as Jerika Golde’s voice adds more weight to its mournful ache. The low end undulates while the chiming guitar glows with tender feeling.

The singers join in impassioned expression as Sleepless Nights’ guitar leaps forward with encouragement and tentative hope. The clashing low end drives the music as the first singer captures the lyrical depth. Their intertwining voices compel me with their earnestness, while guitar glides again with soothing emotion as heavy bass rebounds.

The drums flourish and push forward while Jerika Golde’s lush voice leaves a vivid impression. The guitar spangles above the pounding beat and both singers carry the song with their voices entwined into one rich whole as the glimmering guitar calls out. The song ends on Sleepless Nights’ guitar solo, flying above the music with piercing emotion before silence falls.

The first narrator says, “we used to think everything had meaning, we used to believe, we used to dream.” Now we discover that life can cut us down and “cut you straight to the bone, grinding pleasure to stone.” He wonders how we go forward when “there’s no life at the end of the road” and how to breathe when “our lungs are filled with smoke.”

Our storyteller asks, “will you be there with me as the sun comes down? As the story ends and a new day begins?” He wants to know if the other person will remain “as the lights go dark, as we turn the page at the end of the day.”

He wonders what we’ll become when “our legends and martyrs, our myths and monsters start to lose their charm.” He muses, “where we go once we reach the end of the road and how do we feel when our hearts are turned to stone?”

The second narrator asks to be told why they didn’t win the fight, even though they gave everything while “trying to keep our heads above water.” She points out that “they say in time, everything will work out the way it should,” but in reality, “nothing ever changes and it never would, you know it never could.”

Conclusion

Echoes is full of heartfelt emotion, stunning sonic atmospheres, and songwriting that roams across the broad field of human feeling. I enjoy the mixture of romance, nostalgia, and expression throughout the album and deeply appreciate the contributions of the guest artists.