Agnes Obel's Ancient Journey - The Echoes Interview
Agnes Obel sings songs that seem to have emerged from the forgotten chambers of an ancient church. The voices are mysterious, the words not always intelligible, and the weight of years seems to rise from them. That’s the sound of Obel’s first album in six years, The Meaning of Flowers. That might make it sound forbidding, but it’s beautifully composed music, with melodies that linger in your memory long after they’ve faded away.
Obel’s previous album, Myopia, was released in 2020. So it’s hardly surprising that the pandemic became part of the story behind this recording. She began making an album about technology, but along the way, something changed.
Agnes Obel: And then I discovered I was pregnant in, I think it was June 2020. And I immediately felt like I had to sort of document just what was happening in my mind. Musically, that’s the best way I know how to sort of journal things in a way.
We talk to Agnes Obel on Echoes.
Read our review of Agnes Obel’s The Meaning of Flowers
Read our review of Agnes Obel’s Myopia
| Start Time | Artist | Song Title | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| Echoes Program 2643A | |||
| First Half Hour | |||
| 0:01:00 | Agnes Obel | Gemini | The Meaning of Flowers |
| 0:06:00 | Andy Bell & Masal | The Morning of the Trip | Common Primitives |
| 0:10:27 | Bonobo | Shokoufeh | Distance in Static |
| 0:13:44 | Shekina Rose | Angelic Soul Calling | Angelic Soul Calling (Single) |
| 0:17:28 | Ken Bonfield | Gratitude | Gratitude |
| 0:20:05 | Francis Mann | Borboletta | Aquarius |
| 0:23:11 | Perfume Genius | Natural High | Natural High |
| 0:29:30 | Message to Bears | Half Light | Tired Eyes Waking Hearts |
| Second Half Hour | |||
| 0:30:00 | Interview: Agnes Obel | ||
| 0:45:42 | Agnes Obel | Blood so Red | The Meaning of Flowers |
| 0:51:10 | Break | ||
| 0:51:39 | Antaeus/Madame Gandhi/Cafe De Anatolia/amani sol | Kyrie | Ekta |
| 0:54:20 | Taimane | E Ala E (Jupiter) | Li’ulā |
| 0:59:00 | Immersion | Change of Use | WTF??? |
| Third Half Hour | |||
| 1:01:00 | Locust | White Light (feat. Olive Kimoto) | Spectral+ |
| 1:06:00 | Andreas Vollenweider | Behind The Gardens/Behind The Wall/Under The Tree | Behind the Gardens/Behind the Wall/Under the Tree |
| 1:12:25 | Pink Floyd | Grantchester Meadows | Ummagumma |
| 1:18:39 | Max Richter | Tell The Bees | While the Flood Rages |
| 1:23:08 | Unwed Sailor | Three Jewels (Amethyst Mix) | High Remembrance: Reimagined |
| 1:29:30 | Shambhu | Resilience | Lotus Dream |
| Fourth Half Hour | |||
| 1:30:00 | Lars Leonhard | Echoes Beyond the Stars | A Place Between Worlds |
| 1:35:06 | Beach House | April Suzanne (cover version) | April Suzanne (single) |
| 1:38:40 | Niyaz | Quest | Seven Realms of Attar |
| 1:43:14 | Break | ||
| 1:44:23 | Ashra | 77 Slightly Delayed | Blackouts |
| 1:50:50 | Bombay Dub Orchestra | View From Space (Vlastur Remix) | View From Space (EP) |
| 1:55:36 | Candice Pacheco | Outguessing the Machine | The Vortex: Quantum Gate II |
On the next Echoes, enter the Seven Realms of Attar. That’s an album from the Persian fusion group Niyaz, led by Azam Ali and Loga Ramin Torkian. It’s a delirious ride into electro-Persian grooves and Azam Ali’s sensuous voice. It’s on Echoes from PRX.
| Start Time | Artist | Song Title | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| Echoes Program 2543B | |||
| First Half Hour | |||
| 0:01:00 | Grandbrothers | Shorelines | All the unknown |
| 0:06:00 | Beck | In The Night | Ride Lonesome |
| 0:08:53 | Ken Bonfield | Something Unexpected | Gratitude |
| 0:12:08 | Niyaz | Knowledge | Seven Realms of Attar |
| 0:16:31 | Solar Fields | Shifting Nature | Ourdom |
| 0:19:04 | Agnes Obel | Jenn’s on the Way | The Meaning of Flowers |
| 0:21:49 | Pabellon Sintetico | Erode | Ephemeral Architecture |
| 0:29:30 | Lisa Bella Donna | Future Moves (excerpt) | Counterpoints |
| Second Half Hour | |||
| 0:30:00 | Sunstrom Sound | Flexagon | Honeycrunch |
| 0:35:32 | Sherry Finzer | Within the Mossy Shroud | Clear Blue Sky – Solo Flute Soundscapes Vol 1 |
| 0:38:00 | Sheila Chandra | Waiting (Live) | Echo |
| 0:44:04 | Break | ||
| 0:44:54 | Mattiaca | Aura Rheni | (Single) |
| 0:47:16 | Hammock | On the Tips of a Thousand Grasses | Across the Horizon Vol.2 |
| 0:50:21 | Bonobo | Fire on the Water (feat Arooj Aftab) | Distance in Static |
| 0:53:16 | Still Corners | Lost_Boys | Dead Blue |
| 0:59:00 | Felsman & Tiley | Seeker (excerpt) | Protomensch |
| Third Half Hour | |||
| 1:01:00 | Agnes Obel | Deem Me Now | The Meaning of Flowers |
| 1:06:00 | John Abercrombie | Timeless | Timeless |
| 1:17:45 | Lana Del Rey | Pretty When You Cry | Ultraviolence |
| 1:21:32 | Unwed Sailor | Punk Broke (U-DIS DUB) | High Remembrance: Reimagined |
| 1:26:23 | Deep Space | Atlas Minor Ramos 5 | Atlas Sector |
| 1:29:30 | Michael Hewett | Gold (Live on Echoes) (excerpt) | Victoria Place – Echoes Live 23 |
| Fourth Half Hour | |||
| 1:30:00 | Taimane | Waimanalo Blues | Li’ulā |
| 1:33:20 | Jefferson Airplane | Martha | After Bathing At Baxter’s |
| 1:36:41 | Zero One | Beyond Known Space | Interplanetary |
| 1:41:04 | Encounters & Bluetech | Whisper Me (Air Mix) | Whisper Me (Single) |
| 1:45:53 | Break | ||
| 1:46:38 | Erik Wøllo | Inscape 2 | Where the River Widens |
| 1:48:48 | Kinobe | It’s Only A Dream | Out of the Blue |
| 1:52:45 | Kitaro | Wings | Tenku |