San Francisco singer/songwriter Matt Jaffe has released “Just an Echo” from his upcoming full-length titled White Roses in the Snow, and the song is an absolute homerun.
Jaffe’s reverb-laden vocals keenly cascade over the unparagoned instrumental, combining scintillating synthesizers with slick guitar riffs. The tune radiates a throwback vibe coupled with contemporary production and poignant lyricism. Lines like “Between you and me, we’d furnish a whole cemetery / With old souvenirs we’d be so much wiser to bury” leave the listener with perturbing words to chew on before launching into the closing chorus.
We asked Jaffe for some personal background on the conception of the song. “‘Just an Echo’ will always be linked to Covid. Not its subject matter, but the act of writing it. For part of 2021, I stayed with family in SoCal; my uncle, an avid guitar acquirer, had a Breedlove guitar and I picked it up and this song spilled out. Different instruments harbor different songs and this song will always be the one that found its way out of that guitar on my first day in that new living situation.”
Concerning the remarkable production and unconventional array of instrumentation, he said, “When we recorded the song, my producer and I strived to make the song not a rock song. We’re both guitar lovers so we, ironically, wanted to forge a path away from our roots. We successfully escaped many of our tropes and were satisfied to find a sound that owed to my longtime heroes but also defied definition by them.” He cites the New Wave era as one of his largest musical inspirations.
“Just an Echo” will stick with you—the catchy melodies and brain-picking lyrics are more than enough to urge you to hit replay again and again. Save “Just an Echo” on Spotify here, Apple Music here, or purchase on iTunes here. Trust me, you’ll want to go ahead and add this delectable slice of indie electro-rock to your current rotation.
“You look at me with such conviction / You’d have a non-believer fooled”
Alt Columnist 