Echo Conscious - Emotional Patterns (2023)

What do HD006, HD010, HD013, HD014, HD016, HD020, HD024, HD030, HD042, and HD053 releases have in common? They are all blessed by the multi-alias shape shifter Echo Conscious (Molecule, Dorian). Brad Dale is a full-time sound engineer and head of the label's mastering strategy. In addition, he is an early shaper of the Harmonious Discord sound. However, this time, Brad is the one changing shape. Emotional Patterns is an 11-track exploration of the deep understanding that Brad has for sonic invention predicated by his work as a mastering engineer, audio instrument designer, and film soundtrack composer. In this album, Brad steps away from the console and into an expansive pallet, infusing his love of dub electronics, UK bass beat construction, and catchy melody hooks.

Now Then bursts the project into existence with fluttering circus melodies and rough and rumble kick construction. 1997 follows with blissful synth intros before cascading to an expertly crafted liquid jungle beat. Melodic dancing abounds as chimes collide with synthesis amid a backdrop of mellotron tension. Blue Berry follows trend flexing stuttered vocal programming with a dial into dubbier constructs. Mycelium dives deep into theory, as the main rhythm pattern is an electronic impulse measured from a mycelium network. Looped, applied to a kick drum and side-chained. Daughter delivers rich piano interplays on top of lush soundscapes and is layered periodically with cut-up home sampling. The album's namesake, Emotional Patterns, derives strong feelings of anger, excitement, and bliss. Starting with thundering kicks and bass accompanied by dark synth melodies, suddenly shift into light rhode-laden reprises. Orbital Sunrise plays deeper on the melodic tension, cycling through lush beds, mellotron patterns, and dub percussion, giving it the lofi downtempo feel with a hint of edge. Acrosonic resets with a tine-tinged piano melody that dances with processed and reversed synth calls. This aerial display bubbles into floating arpeggios as the underlying patterns rotate and combine. Season No More enters a somber realm, expertly captured piano artifacts in contrast with the mounting arpeggios and washes of cinematic drums. Space Squirrel enters with a playful coloring, driving the drum programming into the IDM atmosphere only anchored by the signature drum construction. Arrive lands is in an expansive atmosphere with pulsating radio waves and synergisticly melodic swells. This album is deserving of a listen from beginning to end, a true testament to a life of sonic creation.