MELODY’S ECHO CHAMBER

Delicious second from eclectic French songwriter.

The long wait for a follow-up to Melody Prochet’s 2012 debut hasn’t been without drama. After scrapping recording sessions with ex-boyfriend and Tame Impala man Kevin Parker (producer of said debut), she moved to Sweden. Most traumatically, last year saw her suffer a serious accident. Bon Voyage, again issued under her Melody’s Echo Chamber alias, is a wonderfully kinetic work that seems to suggest she’s made a full recovery. Aided by Reine Fiske of Dungen and The Amazing’s Fredrik Swahn, it’s marked by a dazzling sense of exploration. Prochet dispenses songs in French, English and Swedish, while making playmates of avantpsych, ethno-jazz, prog pop and weirdo Eastern space rock. Nowhere is this more explicit than on Desert Horse, with its trippy pan-cultural flavours, backwards effects and spurts of vocoder. Cross My Heart is driven by a similarly experimental feel, Prochet and colleagues squaring the circle between Shuggie Otis, Sun Ra and early Traffic. Aside from other members of Dungen, it’s fitting that her other guest is Nick Allbrook of Pond, whose florid pop art textures are very much aligned to Prochet’s own creative vision.