Velveteen Echo has come out with a new music video to celebrate their sophomore album golden ring. Authoritative drumlines and dreamy climbs of the guitar make the background. Lauren Massa looks out at the water. When the first organism crawled out of the sea and made its home in the dark soil it was the beginning of everything, but more accurately, it was the beginning of Velveteen Echo’s Nuclear family. A shedding of inhibitions like the way that you take off your clothes. Nuclear family is an embrace of the more animal sides of humanity. Through its lingering guitar riffs and an otherworldly female vocalist, it transforms what was once a standard person. Examining what it means to separate ourselves from nature, from ourselves, how far we have come from the joyful play of our evolutionary ancestors.
Velveteen Echo’s first music video, “Do You” was written and directed by Lauren’s sister, Kristin Massa. Like the bright and shiny music video called Nuclear family it has to do with non-humans taking on human wants and needs and humans developing more animal inclinations. Velveteen Echo Lauren’s concern is with the line or liminal space between being, and existing as a human being with all of the caveats and challenges. There are so many emotions that humans experience. There is so much to be gained when we cast off our human garments and go play a while. When asked about what excited her most about being in this newly formed group was the fact that “it’s the first time I’ve ever played amplified with an electric guitar and performed as a frontwoman. It’s incredibly fun and empowering.” It’s this power that she channels into her sophomore album, Golden Ring and sustains her plans for a Texas tour in December 2019.
Tossing normally held conventions and flipping it all upside down on top of the head. A celebration of senses and pack mentality. Velveteen Echo sets itself apart from others through its high quality and acknowledgment of the divinity of nature. How if we can be more like nature and follow the seasons just as the animals do things would be simpler. Being a part of something, rather than being separate. The warmth of the drumline and the guitar cradling us, making the listener whole. A yearning for the fulfillment of promises rather than the breaking of truths. Being together, a community of animals that we are, all worshiping the things that take care of us, such as the dog in the music video. We are left with an animal howl and a yearning to be a part of Velveteen Echo’s soft ambient soundscape.
