echo

Last year, Adrianne Lenker released a masterpiece that was largely inspired by the equal reward and heartbreak of her shortlived romance with fellow musician Indigo Sparks. This year, the Sparks project she worked on as producer has come to fruition as well. One perhaps cannot help but make connections between the two releases and compare one to the other, no matter how unreasonable it is to do so. They are two very different records, Lenker's and Sparks's, yet the shared DNA, both in the studio and behind the scenes, still stems from Lenker. Having said that, if you go in expecting an album that has the same lyrical or instrumental sensibility as Lenker's, you will be disappointed. Likewise, if you listen to Echo hoping for an album that is as objectively amazing as Lenker's, you will also likely leave the listening experience let down. But if you accept this record on its own terms, and allow its magic to come to you, then much delight will still be had.