Echo

Named by her musician parents after Duke Ellington’s jazz standard “Mood Indigo,” Sydney’s Indigo Sparke was born to be a performer. There’s no trace of Ellington’s influence in her work, however, as Sparke’s debut album owes more to the spellbinding folk of Joni Mitchell and Laura Veirs. Although her roots are firmly Australian, there’s a palpable Americana influence that permeates *Echo*, from the languid opener, “Colourblind,” to the Bob Dylan-inspired strumming of “Golden Age.” Sparke has been releasing music since 2016, beginning with her *Nightbloom* EP, which led to a support slot on Big Thief’s Australian tour and, here, production work from Adrianne Lenker. *Echo* is a deeply personal record, with Sparke’s crystalline vocals occasionally barely above a whisper. She tells tales of road trips, love lost, and new experiences while reflecting on what it means to be a queer woman in the 21st century. The absence of percussion gives center stage to Sparke’s melodies and lyrics, particularly on the final track, “Everything Everything”, a rumination on life and death that brings universal sentiments to an intimate level.

Co-produced by Adrianne Lenker, the Australian songwriter’s debut is a dark little star of intimacy and intensity. The atmosphere is rapt, the silences charged.

Flourished with her influences, Indigo Sparke's debut vividly captures landscapes

A singer and songwriter from Sydney, Australia who counts Joni Mitchell and Neil Young among her formative influences, Indigo Sparke came to the attention of acclaimed folk-rock group Big Thief following the release of her debut EP in 2016.

They say a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and whether Australian songwriter Indigo Sparke is destined to a star-crossed fate or not, her own given name certainly invokes the mood for her Sacred Bones debut.

Adrianne Lenker protege Indigo Sparke has a haunting way with songwriting – a little more restraint, and she could be onto something special