Bright, bubbly, beautiful.

Melody’s Echo Chamber’s 2025 release, Unclouded, is just that. True to what it wants to be, Unclouded swooshes through its listeners’ ears with outstanding clarity. 

Bedroom pop production and heavily stylized vocals that sound almost underwater open up the album with “The House That Doesn’t Exist.” Setting the tone for the rest of the album, the song is dreamlike and airy. It feels as if the song exists on a cloud floating by each listener’s head. 

“In the Stars” goes for a jazzier approach, fun and breezy, leaving a sweet taste in the mouth. This genre appears again later in the lyric-less title track with a more cool jazz approach. The use of harmonious string instruments for an orchestral atmosphere gives Unclouded a depth rarely explored in similar alternative albums. 

Melody’s Echo Chamber explores so much more throughout Unclouded as well. “Flowers Turn Into Gold” and “Childhood Dream” both have verses in different languages, French and Dutch respectively. “Childhood Dream” especially stands out for the story it tells. True to its name, the whole song is presented as a dreamlike memory of spending a day in the sun with one’s grandparents. 

In no small part due to Melody Prochet’s tranquil and surreal voice, the entire album lulls listeners into childhood dreams of their own. To create such a reflective environment within an album is an incredibly difficult task, yet Melody’s Echo Chamber does so with ease. 

Instrumentally, the album holds strong. The aforementioned “Childhood Dream” ends with around 45 seconds of funky reverbed electric guitar sliding around the track. Despite its very few lyrics, “Into Shadows” has a lot to say in its guitar interlude two-thirds into it. A much bouncier and livelier track than most others on the album, it pulls listeners into a beach scene through its excited percussion and reverbed guitar. 

According to Pitchfork, Melody’s Echo Chamber got their newest album name from a Hayao Miyazaki quote, “You must see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good. Pledge yourself to neither side.” Melody Prochet spoke of how this quote helped overcome her childhood nostalgia and become more at peace with impermanence. This concept of impermanence permeates the entire album, depicting scenes that feel like they happened a lifetime ago with clarity that can only come through intense reflection.