Berlin-based singer / songwriter Tara Nome Doyle has her third solo album, Ekko out on FatCat Records. The collection of songs takes its name from an essay by Norwegian author Lena Lindgrens, which uses the Greek myth of Echo & Narcissus to explore the modern day “influencer / follower” phenomena. The myth also acts as an analogy for Doyle’s concerns that she was listening more to the feedback of others than her own internal creative impulses. Musically it’s a mix of acoustic keys and guitars, and electronically processed palettes, but the focus is always Doyle’s vocals. Her lyrics reflecting crises of confidence, brought about by personal and professional change. The struggle of shaking off society’s shackles of conformity, and instead staying true to your own course. Before writing, Doyle says that she was initially paralysed with self-doubt and “stuck between accepting defeat or starting anew.”

The Overgrown Path is a love letter to those who dare to walk the road less travelled, in Doyle own words, “a reminder that nobody knows the right way – so we might as well try the one that makes us feel most alive.” 

Dive In is a sonic snapshot from a summer in Norway. Beginning with a whispered “1, 2, 3, 4” , it closes with a happy shriek and a climatic splash, a field recording of Doyle hitting the water of an icy lake. The plunge symbolising a spontaneous shedding of procrastination and a leap into the unknown. 

Lighthouse is the long-player’s centrepiece. Built around words of reassurance and encouragement, it’s intended to act like a warm embrace. Written for a friend, tied in knots while pleasing everyone but herself, an ethereal and siren-like Doyle’s airs the pain we hide for appearance’s sake. The mantra of “Those who matter won’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter”, aiming to purge the pretending to be someone else, and a strip away layers of public and self-deceit.

Heaven In Disguise is a celebration of Eve, inspired by the biblical story of The Garden Of Eden, where her biting the apple is a metaphor for the process of challenging ourselves. Doyle’s lyrics describing how the search for knowledge sometimes sets us adrift, and that paradise perhaps lies, not in the hereafter, but in this struggle. Musically it moves like an intimate blues. Weary beyond its years. Wondering, pondering, regretting time wasted. Doyle’s vocal a little jazz-inflected, while encouraging herself with lines like, “Easy now tiger, it’s all in your mind.” 

Bad Days is about being in love, and about lovers supporting each other through periods of poor mental health. The realisation that, while feeling powerless to solve a partner’s problems, an understanding ear and caring hug always helps. That while “Your eyes get used to the dark over time”, things are far easier when you’re no longer fighting the battle / black dog alone. Opening quietly with acoustic picking, building to strings and a gentle rhythm like a foot tapping, the arrangement’s increasing intensity reflects the protagonist’s growing inner strength. Like much of the album, by its close the song soars.

As it plays, Ekko shifts between a sense of being totally lost, through to hopeful transformation, and its message is ultimately about welcoming change and the energy that letting go eventually brings. 

Tara Nome Doyle’s Ekko is out now on FatCat Records.

You can catch Tara live, as part of the 130701 showcase, at Brighton’s Great Escape Festival on May 17th.