Song of the Day: Melody's Echo Chamber - Shirim

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is “Shirim” by Melody's Echo Chamber from her forthcoming self-released album.

Under the moniker Melody's Echo Chamber, Melody Prochet makes shimmering and spacey pop gems with an immediacy that belies their depth. Formerly a member of the shoegaze-indebted outfit My Bee's Garden, Prochet met Tame Impala mastermind Kevin Parker at a show, which led to the duo recording her first solo album in his studio in Perth, 2012's Melody's Echo Chamber. After a tour behind the album, Prochet returned home to Paris to start work on album #2, which is due for release later this year. The only track released from the as-yet-untitled album so far is "Shirim", a rich, glimmering track that builds from a reverb-drenched crawl to a psychedelic powerhouse across its five minutes. When it's not delivering lyrics, Prochet's voice wraps itself around the song to provide ghostly and beautiful harmonies that are paired with a punchy, echoing rhythm section in a surprisingly effective fashion. As a crisp guitar solo brings the song to a closing climax, it's striking how "Shirim" sounds more directly engaging and akin to a live band than anything on the studio-centric Melody's Echo Chamber, but that's what makes it so thrilling: "Shirim" emanates confidence, and if it sounds this good in headphones, there's a good chance it will be even better when Prochet returns to the stage.

Melody Prochet will be in North America in May for Levitation Festival (formerly Austin Psych Fest), so if any further dates are announced, those will be at her Facebook page. Below, watch the video for the 2012 Melody's Echo Chamber standout "Crystallized".