Born in Malaysia and now based in Melbourne, music artist Echolily, aka Michelle Chong, is not only an emerging Australian indie musician creating adventurous contemporary music but has been one of the essential frontline workers throughout the pandemic, serving as a doctor and consultant anaesthetist.
Echolily has just released her debut single Under The Clocks (Stay), a track that mixes electronica, experimental and alternative pop to create a fresh, unique sound.
Echolily’s debut has understandably already attracted 50k plus Spotify streams, confirming the broad appeal of this new artist’s music and signalling the beginning of a promising career.
The track’s soundtrack like introduction segues into several otherworldly musical passages, with Echolily’s enchanting vocal performance guiding us into a full landscape of sonic surprises and delights, hip-hop inspired beats, and a multitude of swirling colours. The opening verse vividly depicts an evocative vista for the listener with both text and sound: I wish you love until the end / But now that you’re gone / Can you hear the music? / That played the night we danced until the dawn.
The genre is similar to Björk’s ground-breaking style, yet Under The Clocks (Stay) is quite accessible while keeping a slightly subversive edge, beautifully conjured by Echolily’s adventurous sound choices and captivating melodic inventions.
‘‘ The track’s soundtrack like introduction segues into several otherworldly musical passages, with Echolily’s enchanting vocal performance guiding us into a full landscape of sonic surprises and delights, hip-hop inspired beats, and a multitude of swirling colours.
As Echolily says about the inspiration behind the track, ‘I was busking near Flinders Station when I met this man. He was older and played the trumpet. He told me that he used to meet his lover at Flinders Street railway station under the giant clocks. He would say, ‘Just meet me under the clocks.
’ Well, that and many other love stories combined, including my own, became the premise of Under The Clocks (Stay).’ Under The Clocks (Stay) will undoubtedly attract a lot of attention and prove a great launching pad for this new talent.
LISTEN TO ECHOLILY HERE: