Cartographer
Echolalia

Cartographer are developing into something special. They always had an impressive tightness, but their sound gets sharper with every release. Today’s case in point is ‘Echolalia’, a song of several movements that all need a mention in this short space.

Let’s start with the intro. It spins into life with a suitably echo-laden synth, over which the first verse and chorus shed their melody. The rich soundbed is a perfect pillow to lay Skies’ vocal. We then burst into full djent complexity for the second verse, but it’s pulled right back for the second chorus. The song forges into a middle eight, then a full-band chorus, but with the beat cut in half.

What can I say? There are time signatures, the beat gets pulled around in clever ways, the baton-passing between bass and guitars is a clever trick. A lot is going on. However, the fundamental brilliance of Cartographer is that you don’t have to bask in all these clever shenanigans. You can just enjoy what is an excellent song.

And if all this isn’t enough, dig into the lyrics to find deep themes underpinning the songs.

Echolalia Video

This video follows on from ‘Bliss’, so you might want to watch it and return for this second part!

Watch Cartographer – ‘Echolalia’.

Echolalia Lyrics

I’ll write a letter to pacify
Clearing the noise to ease your mind
If nothing else I will crucify
Searching the void that’s left behind

This isn’t really happening
Wish I could see what you see
With all of this uncertainty
Hold onto me, hold onto me

Hollow voices sing
My eyes can’t look away
Demons dance in synchrony
Mind in disarray

This isn’t really happening
Wish I could see what you see
With all of this uncertainty
Hold onto me

If we’re both a little broken
we can fall apart, fall apart together
Need to know it isn’t hopeless
If we fall apart, fall apart forever

I don’t want to live my life
thinking something is wrong with me
I can’t be the only one

This isn’t really happening
Wish I could see what you see
With all of this uncertainty
Hold onto me

If we’re both a little broken
we can fall apart, fall apart together
Need to know it isn’t hopeless
If we fall apart, fall apart forever

I don’t want to live my life
thinking something is wrong with me
I can’t be the only one

Written by Fenton on 5th October 2024

Steve Fenton writes in our music, words, and culture categories. He was Editor in Chief for The Mag and covered live music for DV8 Magazine and Spill Magazine. He was often found in venues throughout the UK alongside ace-photographer, Mark Holloway. Steve is also a technical writer and programmer and writes gothic fiction. Steve studied Psychology at OSC, and Anarchy in the UK: A History of Punk from 1976-1978 at the University of Reading.

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