Echosmith - Inside a Dream EP

Echosmith
Inside a Dream EP
2017
Spotify

Echosmith burst onto the electropop scene with songs like "Cool Kids" and a few highly spun remixes. It seemed like the sibling band was poised to take on the world just like CHVRCHES or some others had, but something got stalled in the process. This new EP Inside a Dream took awhile to get here and perhaps failed to capitalize on some of the buzz they'd garnered, but they still sound pretty damn good. Almost all their songs are right on the edge of being something great, but just don't quite go as far as they should. "Get Into My Car" has this really interesting electronic opening and features signer Sydney Sierota singing the most full voice we have heard from her and it's really fantastic. Yet the songs stays at one level, where you would want these crescendos to absolutely bang. "18" sort of picks up the pace and the power but is written from this really young perspective which just doesn't quite work for Echosmith. Their brand of poppy electronic is great but, not when it is put through this somewhat youthful filter. I'm also old so maybe I have no clue what the hell I am talking about here. The good news is Echosmith have already promised more music coming in 2018 to backup this EP. They just seemed to have taken what could have been a really bright and dreamy electronic record and really pushed it to the pop side.

Their artistry slips through though with songs like "Goodbye" when an almost tropical vibe is coupled with a picked guitar, but before it can really grow and become something they shift right into the catchy hook and move on. You just feel like there is so much more to mine from these songs, so much more depth in this band than they are willing to explore on this EP. "Hungry" suffers a similar fate of being just on the edge of something great, but missing the mark. The album ends with a whimper on "Dear World" an overly sad acoustic guitar driven song. After this long you would expect more from the band, but with a promise of more to come it seems like Inside a Dream may have been just a taste of what is to come. We will have to wait and see because this EP is far to hit or miss if Echosmith really want to take the next step.

5.8 out of 10