Melody's Echo Chamber
Union Transfer
1026 Spring Garden St.
Philadelphia
May 13, 2026
I’ve always associated the music of Melody’s Echo Chamber with autumn. The chilled, yet warm atmospheric sounds of the band's style of psychedelic indie rock floods my senses with the sights of changing leaves and the sound of winter’s slow but steady approach. The airy vocals and distorted guitar resemble the experience of watching a vintage horror movie. These feelings were translated seamlessly into this past weekend, when I found myself immersed their live performance; physically I was at Union Transfer in the middle of May, but spiritually I was crunching leaves on a walk through the Wissahickon on an October afternoon.
The influences of legendary lo-fi bands like Broadcast and Galaxie 500 showed themselves throughout the the performance as Prochet’s angelic vocals floated freely over psychedelic guitar sounds. There was a sensation of weightlessness that seemed to come with each of her songs that subconsciously caused the audience to mimic Prochet’s on-stage movements; I found myself swaying, dancing, and shaking my (non-existent) hair multiple times during the night.
The lyrics bounced between English, Swedish, and the frontwoman's native-tongue, French, but language barriers didn’t seem to affect a crowd singing along to almost every song on the setlist. While the concert focused on highlight songs from their latest release — the 2025 album Unclouded — Prochet also treated longtime fans to enduring favorites like "Quand Vas Tu Rentrer?" as well as her arguably most recognizable song, "I Follow You." One of my favorite tracks of the evening was "Le Temple Volant," a 2023 collaboration with fellow psych-pop band Crumb. The two minute song includes some of my favorite lyrics by Prochet, such as: "It keeps happening, it's kind of humbling, it’s still haunting me." It's a simple, yet powerful depiction of being caught in a cycle that I’m sure most people can relate to.
I couldn’t imagine a better way to end the evening than with Prochet's chosen encore, “Shirim," a disco track with strains of Arabic folk that was originally released in late 2014 and then again on the 2018 album Bon Voyage. One of Prochet's more upbeat songs, "Shirim" filled me with the autumn instincts I look to receive from the music of Melody's Echo Chamber: love, warmth, decay, transition and hope.
