Between The Echoes
“Phantom Limb”

Every now and then you come across a band or a song that makes you feel fortunate to be a music writer. This feeling come in strongly with Between The Echoes and their new single entitled “Phantom Limb.” The track even features some guest vocals from Anberlin’s Stephen Christian towards the end of the song to add to the layers of complexity and conflict within the song’s lyrics. The band is comprised of Chad William, Katie Jean, Marvin Albert, and their unique band chemistry pays off majorly with a crisp pop-punk delivery. With a sound that drifts somewhere between the darkest parts of Finch, paired with the pop sensibilities of Broadside, Between The Echoes are well on their way to making the best use of their moment.

The song starts off casually with a soft guitar chord over the lyric of “Breathe…” to set the tone for the heavy material that follows. The opening verse of, “Tired of all the faking / Not knowing who I am now / Livin’ my life like I’m a fool / I don’t wanna regret that moment, now! / How do I release and just allow? / The past will fall away, yeah I don’t wanna get lost in this lie / You keep telling me it’ll be alright / We keep on pretending life is set in stone,” finds the band accepting the conflict and self-doubt in their lives that can make this life so difficult to navigate. It features some great instrumentation and a steady beat that allows the song to breathe and follow a logical path.

The song is built around a fantastic chorus of, “How do I omit you from this life? / I wanna erase you from my mind! / I wanna break you! / I don’t wanna get lost in this lie / You keep telling me it’ll be alright / We keep on pretending life is set in stone,” that wears their core pop-punk influences on their sleeves. By the time Stephen Christian joins in on the fun in the bridge, it’s practically icing on the cake for this flavorful single that never gets too bogged down by its weighty lyrical material in order to be fully enjoyed.

Between The Echoes are certainly on the right trajectory if they can continue to make great-sounding songs like this. Whether they expand upon this brooding type of atmospheric approach in their music to convey wide-ranging themes in their sound remains to be seen. But for now, they certainly have earned my attention.