'Not Nice Robot' is the first single release in 2020 for Australian rhythm-seeker Echo Lima and marks his new signature brand of music which is chock-full of quirks, emotions and experimentation.
“As a constant tapper playing with various Australian artists (including Le Pie and BRUCE), I came across a guitar that I borrowed, a mini korg and a crusty mic and started piecing together my own type of layer cake. The result is solo project named Echo Lima.”
‘Not Nice Robot’ is a synth-loaded pop song with influences from 80’s pop and alternative rock which, as evident from its subject matter, was written during the lockdown period. It explores the fun and fear of a “Jekyll and Hyde” home appliance that cleans by day, but takes a dark turn at night.
Despite being a seemingly synth-driven song which harks back to tracks like Depeche Mode’s ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’, The Human League’s ‘Don’t You Want Me’ and Dead or Alive’s ‘You Spin Me Round’, there is no doubt when listening to ‘Not Nice Robot’, that Echo Lima has adept rhythmic training. His latest track features an impressive drum performance that will result in an out-of-body reaction, whilst featuring a scintillating bass a series of snappy riffs, the depth of which compliment the airy synths perfectly.
Echo Lima also flaunts his full, rounded vocal tone on this track which strangely, when married with the synths and drums, results in a buoyant combination of sounds which somehow draws upon marginal differences to form one cohesive phenomenon. It’s like Avenged Sevenfold’s ‘Little Piece of Heaven’, The Cars’ ‘Just What I Needed’ and the Ghostbusters theme song had a baby.
These varied elements drawn from alternative rock and pop from the 80’s, as well as his experimentation with synth sounds which can’t help but conjure the future, will almost make you forget that you’re bopping along to a song about an evil Roomba.