EchoBravo’s (Jack Booth) new collection Awakening Of Dreams are not just ambient soundscapes; they capture the essence of dreaming.
By Graeme Smith
Dreams are often undefinable, unknowable. If you try to describe one you can pick up one or two elements you remember but find the whole narrative and structure elusive. They are, in their nature, fractured, often nonsensical, and inhabit the parts of our minds that language can’t reach. We interpret them rather than describe them in logical terms.
So, how does one translate that into music? EchoBravo’s Awakening Of Dreams certainly tries, creating the kind of dark ambience you’d expect from the soundtrack of Twin Peaks or the video game Silent Hill. There’s a haunted feeling to each of its five pieces, achieved using negative space, subtle dissonance, and evolving drones.
The Last Shore eases us in with a feeling of drifting off from our conscious realm and washing up somewhere entirely different. Lunar Witness follows, trudging, meditative, and ghostly. At this point we find ourselves in a state of relaxation but one tinged with intellectual curiosity as we anticipate what’s to come.
The EP was born from the experience of addiction recovery, and that sense of unease is prevalent throughout. It’s unafraid to reach for the darker recesses of the human soul, bringing it to light in a unique way. No track personifies this better than Eternal Transmission which conveys a sense of restlessness, looping patterns and staring into the void. It’s a mid-record highlight.
Things are rounded off by The Sound of The Sun which unfolds over two parts collectively more than seven minutes long. It’s Booth at his most expansive. An addition of guitar and vocals in part one is unexpected but welcome, adding a new dimension and concrete narrative to proceedings. It feels like an awakening in every sense and adds some final brightness.
Hailing from Sheffield, Booth has been making music since the age of twelve and has been releasing it under the EchoBravo moniker since 2024. A relative newcomer to the experimental scene, he’s already showing us that he’s able to expand the genre, bringing a unique approach and point of view.
You can keep up to date with all he’s doing by following him on TikTok, Instagram, and Bandcamp.
If you’re a fan of dark, ambient music and soundtracks, then Awakening Of Dreams is for you. The EP is out now, and you can give it a listen below.
