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Written Lines

The Universe in a Face

The latest single of Swedish singer-songwriter An Echoic presents the listener with a mirror into individual identity. “Written Lines” explores the idea of the human face as the book of existence, with an experimental freak folk style that sounds like an intriguing unanswered question. 

The main topic of the song was inspired by a passage in Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgård’s “My struggle”. 

“The author describes an intense moment where he sees a reflection of his own face,” An Echoic explains. “He looks at the worn-out face as though it’s someone else’s and asks what has come to make up this sad face. This quite short scene in the book had an intense impact on me and provoked a lot of existential thoughts.”

Recorded in his home studio in Malmö, the song started as a strange guitar riff. A music theme with ambiguous harmony and rhythm that was later made into “Written Lines” in collaboration with producer Andrew Feels. 

The overarching topics of most of An Echoic’s music are personal identity and introspection. His two EPs “An Echoic EP” (2016) and “Headless Heathen” (2018) go beyond typical alt-folk expectations. Unconventional harmony and sound design are two of his recurrent themes. 

The Malmö-based artist has been releasing a series of singles with similar aesthetics since the autumn of 2021. His latest song “Bad Weather” was accompanied by a peculiar music video animation that was featured on outlets like The Au Review and Tinnitist. 

“Written Lines” will be released via Rexius Records on April 29th.

Photo: David Eliasson

Artwork: Georgia Rose

An Echoic