Echoes from the Underground

Background

After the band's 2009 album, Burning the Days, band co-founder Keith Kane left the band shortly after in 2010, to pursue solo projects. The band's other co-founder, and frontman Matt Scannell turned to crowdfunding to financially support the creation of the album. Supporters who put down money ahead of time were allowed first access to over two years worth of "making of", behind the scenes footage of the album's creation, and a copy of the album upon release.

Writing and recording

Scannell wrote over 50 songs over the four-year period of developing the album. While Scannell did not replace Kane after his departure, he did collaborate with artists he had collaborated with in the past. Drummer Neil Peart of the band Rush was once again recruited to record drums for two tracks on the album, one of which was "Instamatic", which Scannell ironically described as "Lyrically, it's just your average spy thriller/espionage/blackmail/love song". Peart also performed drums on the slow-paced, somber album closer "South for the Winter", despite initial reservations that it was not the type of song he would play on. Scannell persuaded him to play for that very reason, that he wanted to see a seasoned drummer play outside of his comfort zone. Scannell also reunited with Richard Marx, with whom he had worked on his Duo project, who co-wrote the opening track "You Never Let Me Down", and helped produce vocals for the track "Half Light".

Concept and themes

The album is a loose concept album.

"South for the Winter" was initially going to a song dedicated to troops overseas, but as the song developed, he shifted it to more personal themes, and instead wrote "A Song for Someone" for the troops overseas instead.

Track listing

All songs written by Matt Scannell, except where noted.

1. "You Never Let Me Down" (Scannell, Richard Marx) - 4:02
2. "Broken Over You" - 4:51
3. "Evermore" - 5:14
4. "Song For Someone" - 5:15
5. "Half-Light" - 4:16
6. "Instamatic" - 4:46
7. "Consolation" - 5:19
8. "Lovestruck" - 5:52
9. "Frost" - 6:13
10. "I Free You" - 4:18
11. "South For the Winter" - 7:10