Melody’s Echo Chamber - In Conversation
Interview & foreword by Beau Croxton
Melody Prochet by Diane Sagnier
When it comes to the modern wave of psychedelic rock & dream pop, one of the most prominent names is Melody Prochet. Thankfully, Prochet has returned in the last weeks of 2025 to stun once again with her enchanting psychedelic project, Melody’s Echo Chamber.
We are thrilled to have an interview with Melody Prochet for the 8th installment of Occult: In Conversation.
Back in 2012, Melody’s kaleidoscopic psych-rock/pop debut album, Melody’s Echo Chamber, was essential on arrival— it was a defining psych album of the 2010’s that inspired the many waves of artists to follow. Melody’s sophomore record Bon Voyage was even more ambitious, taking her sounds in bold new directions– it reinforced the notion that Melody would continue to be a multifaceted force.
Tomorrow December 5th, Melody will release her 4th official studio album– Unclouded, which is a brilliant meshing of two worlds. The vivid, psychedelic visions of Melody’s Echo Chamber remain prominent, but they are emphasized by the rich and exotic orchestral escapism of Swedish composer/producer Sven Wunder, who co-wrote and produced Unclouded. The production and instrumentation lifts Melody’s grounded perspective, and paints her shimmering tunes into the audio equivalent of a gorgeous impressionist painting. Melody floats over the elegant sonic palette effortlessly, and the record truly feels like a breath of fresh of air.
This luxurious record had quite a stellar A-team of musicians to make Melody’s dreamworld come true. Notably, drummer Malcolm Catto (collaborator of Madlib and DJ Shadow) provides cracking breakbeats that weave between trip-hop and jazz fusion– the rhythm section marvelously propels Melody’s ethereal psych-pop. Multi-instrumentalist/composer Josefin Runsteen layers violin and viola into a beautiful landscape of strings to heighten the emotion of the record. These beautiful strings (arranged by Wunder and Runsteen) sound like a divine movie score of Melody’s surreal imagination.
Although Melody views each song as a piece of a larger painting– the songs are remarkable, both on their own and within the canvas of Unclouded. Opening track “The House That Doesn't Exist” introduces the strings in a beautiful call and response with Melody’s trademark ethereal vocals.
“Eyes Closed” mixes the new record’s dreamy breakbeat approach with some of Melody’s 1960s eastern-psych flourishes of her earlier work. “Burning Man” is a meditative prayer to Mother Earth, full of shimmering vibraphones, gleeful guitars, skittering drums and gorgeous instrumentation.
Although the dream-like arrangements of Unclouded might transport you somewhere else entirely – Prochet’s themes find a lot of beauty in the present. “The music I create unusually inhabits the liminal zone between realism and fables,” says Melody. “But the more experience I have of living, the deeper I love life, and the less I need to escape.”
I caught up with Melody Prochet over the holiday for a conversation on all things Unclouded. We spoke about her process, influences, collaborating with Sven Wunder and El Michaels Affair, and even trying to rap like Little Simz. Check it out below!
Melody Prochet by Diane Sagnier
INTERVIEW
MELODY PROCHET: Hello!
BEAU CROXTON: Hi, Melody! It’s really nice to meet you, I really appreciate you making time!
MELODY: Yeah– same!
BEAU: I'm very excited for the release of Unclouded– It's a very beautiful, vibrant, and very rich album. It's been a few years since your last release. How does it feel to bring this new version of yourself to the world at the moment?
MELODY: Thank you. Yeah– it's been a while. Recording this new music kind of sparked a new light in me– this new sense of faith somehow. So it's very exciting and really special.
BEAU: Yes– It has a very grounded, positive, peaceful tone that really resonated with me.
MELODY: Oh, thanks. That means a lot!
BEAU: So I've had your music and rotation for plenty of years since your debut Melody’s Echo Chamber, but Sven Wunder’s music is a more recent obsession–I actually discovered his records during the pandemic. I loved Eastern Flowers and Wabi Sabi– and his record this year, Daybreak, is really great.
Unclouded is a really great link up of both of your worlds. Sven’s touches compliment your work, and vice versa in the process. I'd love to hear how the collaboration came about.
MELODY: I discovered his music a few years ago with the song “En Plein Air”. I had an instant crush, and I was like, “Oh, I really want to float and sing into this landscape”... and those lush and luxurious sounds. It felt really organic and absolutely mind blowing. I really wanted to try to work with him, so I reached out to him, and at the same time, I reached out to El Michel's Affair. I was looking for producers and both really wanted to do it.
Timing wise– it worked out with Sven Wunder, more fluidly and easily. So that was really special. I just crashed my soul into his world and same with him. So that's really exciting and terrifying at the same time, because we didn't know each other at all. The first song we worked on was “Memories Underground”, which was a really small demo of mine, it was shoegaz-y… guitar-y.. We really clicked and matched on this one. From this song, we knew it was going to work out okay– and it did.
BEAU: Absolutely. What did you say…that you wanted to “float into his landscape”-- That's exactly what it sounds like.
MELODY: Thanks. Yeah– I also wanted to distort his world a little bit, because it was so perfect, (laughs) which I also enjoyed doing. Which was harder for him, though…. But he also had fun.
Melody Prochet by Diane Sagnier
BEAU: So I have a question that's perfect for this point of the conversation.
I read in an older interview with 15 questions that you said, “Sometimes I am so nerdy and tyrannical about the smallest detail. My producer sometimes thinks it's madness.”
MELODY: (laughs)
BEAU: So, did that sense of control come into these sessions a little bit– or were things a little bit more open– because I'm sure you both have big visions.
MELODY: Yeah– it's an interesting question. I think most of the process was very fluid– absolutely. It was very natural and there was no big… clash. It's more towards the end, when the control freak-ness enters the whole painting.
We are both very controlling and have a very specific vision of how things need to sound or be. I knew from the beginning of this record that it was going to be my vision, and I wanted to take my own vision again. Because with my two previous works– I was collaborating with friends and it was amazing…but I also explored letting them have more space. This time, I really wanted to sound like me again somehow. So when the mixing came along, I really wanted to take over.
So that was more difficult, but also I think good for him because he was doing his own record and it's a lot of work. I think in the end, everything was fine. But there were little moments (laughs) where it was, it was controlling.
BEAU: There's always moments where you have to put your hands on each other's shoulders and say, “trust me.”
MELODY: Yeah! Trust the process…Trust me! And yeah, I feel mad sometimes, because I don't know anymore if I'm just being crazy…or if it's worth it. But most times I was right when pursuing what I wanted. So it's just a balance and a way of putting things.
BEAU: Absolutely. I can understand that with the mix– “no, put this up a few DB… just a little bit more!”
MELODY: It's so subtle and insane, but people that are specialized, they know it changes the whole perception of a song or a whole place. It's important details.
Melody Prochet by Diane Sagnier
BEAU: So, you also have an incredible roster of musicians on this record too.
MELODY: Yeah, it's true. I'm really lucky.
BEAU: I really love the break beats– that snappy drum sound is a big personality on the album. How did you decide on the members of the band for this record? I did see that some of the tracking was done separately.
MELODY: Yeah, the process was really new to me, and Sven Wunder's ideas were really incredible. We first went into his studio and with my demos, a little bit of his demos as well, we both had material to share, and to see what would inspire us.
We started in his studio with him, he was ripping drums that we love from his program. He could get like my favorite Can-beats and drumming modern or old, so we could just work on amazing material.
And then we had to recreate that, which was another challenge– but we knew we could manage with some really great drummers. His partner at Piano Piano Records came up with the idea of Malcolm Catto, which is legendary– but I never thought I could work with him.
He managed to contact him and got him to come on board. So we went to Dalston in London, an incredible neighborhood. We recorded Malcolm in his incredible studio, which was set in a community center. It was really raw and authentic, and he was like coming down into a cavern of analogue…it was insane. He's absolutely the best at doing that whole kraut-rock, meets rock, meets soul/hip-hop…this whole jazz fusion thing– he makes it all into his own story.
It was perfect for us to have this consistent and classic sound towards the whole record. That's what I wanted– and that's what I also thought Sven Wunder had in his own records, which he usually records with all Dina Ögon’s musicians. So that's why we also went to record Daniel Ögon and Love Orsan from Dina Ögon– the amazing Swedish band, so that was all pretty natural.
BEAU: Excellent.“Burning Man” is one of my favorite tracks on Unclouded– it's a bit mysterious, and the instrumental is incredible. What can you tell me about “Burning Man?”
MELODY: Yeah that song is like…a prayer to my goddess of secrets (which is creativity, I guess). It's just a prayer to forgive humanity for destroying pretty much everything..
BEAU: Wow….
MELODY: Yeah and it's very childish, or naive somehow– but I think the strings are like the nature responding to my prayer and it's just like those vibraphones are fairies, and the chorus “closes your eyes”…..I don't know…there's a mysterious connection. Like the expression of my own faith or something.
BEAU: Wow, that's beautiful. I mean, I think anybody who listens to this record needs to know that. Did you say the vibraphones are like fairies?
MELODY: Yeah (laughs)
BEAU: I'm a very visual person and sounds are very representative of things to me– so I'm gonna enjoy that song much more every time I listen to it. That's beautiful– it's very psychedelic.
So- I hate to ask a musician what their favorite song on the record is (it's like choosing children) but at the current moment…is there a song on the album (or the singles) that you're most excited to share?
MELODY: Yeah it's hard– it's a good question, and it's exactly what you said…
Singles are my nightmare. Because I'm not a “single” musician. My record is a whole tableau…a whole painting and all different pieces of the same painting and it works together, so it was very frustrating to choose. So, I'm really excited about them all as a whole.
But– I really have to say maybe… There's a couple songs that still haunt me and touch me somehow. There is “Broken Roses”. There is “Memories Underground”-- even though I feel like I should have worked even better at the mix, it's still special. There is “The House That Doesn't Exist” which I really like, and “Burning Man”—
Yeah I love them all– which is great! I'm proud of it,.I haven't felt my work so complete in forever– so it's really cool.
Melody Prochet by Diane Sagnier
BEAU: So you also did “Daisy” with El Michel's Affair, which is fantastic. Maybe for the next record, you should do the whole thing with El Michel's Affair and let Sven Wunder have one song on there.
MELODY: Yeah that's what we're talking about with Leon, and we really both really want to do a record, so we'll see how things go.
BEAU: You know– I feel like Unclouded kind of resolves with those last two tracks before “Daisy”... (“How to Leave Misery Behind" and the title track.) Then “Daisy” is like a new beginning at the end.
MELODY: Exactly! That's why I put it in the end. I felt like it was the start of the next chapter somehow…
BEAU: So what can you tell me about “Daisy” with El Michaels Affair – it's a beautiful song.
MELODY: I was listening to his music– we were going to play together in Mexico around 2023. I had never heard of his music before, which is crazy, but I discovered his music there and I was like “Oh, that would be the perfect match!”.
So I reached out to him, and he loved my work and we spoke on the phone. We were like “let's try to make something!”. So he sent me some beats and pieces and I worked on it. I completely made a whole new thing out of it. It was just like a little playground between our two worlds– that was really cool.
I'm working on a new track that he sent to me, and I think we will do some more for sure.
Also I had his mixer– Jens– who mixed the record, which was a game changer really, because he has such a special sound. So that really changed my life as well.
BEAU: Yeah, it all works beautifully. Hopefully they'll be some more “Daisies” in the future!
MELODY: Yeah! Thanks
(everyone laughs)
BEAU: I saw your playlist for NTS Radio– it was really fantastic, with stuff from little Simz, King Gizzard “Eternal Return” is an great song, Water From Your Eyes, Tyler The Creator. Lots of great music in there!
What have you been into and listening to lately– whether it be for inspiration or casual listening?
MELODY: I was just listening to Dina Ögon and Sven Wunder at the time when I started, and Tyler The Creator, Little Simz, Cleo Soul, and SAULT blew my mind… Crumb, also as well…
I thought there's so much modern music that’s so ambitious and visionary and that there's all those spools that all scrambled… I love that when you're traveling through one song into different genres. Recently, I've listened to Saya Gray, which is incredible. I really love her. Water from Your Eyes– they opened for us on tour in 2023, so that was insane and now they made this new beautiful record I can stop listening to it.
BEAU: Amazing– speaking of different genres, I think between Melody's Echo Chamber and to Sven Wunder records— there's an endless source of hooks and hip-hop adjacent beats for sampling. Are you open to some kind of hip hop collaborations in the future? You're listening to a lot of great hip hop!
MELODY: Yeah! Oh man. That's my dream. So, that connection opened with my debut, I had Tyler tweeting to me… and and you know, Flying Lotus… and many hip-hop, R&B and alternative people talking to me, and I was like “Wow, that's so crazy that there's a connection there…”
But it makes sense somehow. They love Broadcast, they love Stereolab…and recently Jay Versace wrote to me, and I was like “Oh wow, this is crazy. I really want to do something like that”. I tried to rap (myself) after listening to Little Simz and it was like… horrifying. I was like “maybe not”?
BEAU: Yeah, that's what you do in the car by yourself, you know? (laughs)
MELODY: Yeah exactly. I spent an endless amount of hours trying, and I was like “how do they write all those words”. I just …. I write haikus, you know? I don't know how they do it.
I would love for them to sample the music. There's also this hip-hop female artist H.E.R. that sampled a song from my first record and made an amazing song. I think it's never been released, but it was amazing, so we'll see, hopefully.
BEAU: Hopefully something will happen, maybe just keep talking about it, you know? Maybe someone can tap Little Simz or and Tyler The Creator on the shoulder..
MELODY: That's so big, man… incredible. They're incredible.
BEAU: Absolutely– so we have the tour in spring, thats very exciting! We'll see you in New York in May! Excited? What are you looking forward to the most ?
MELODY: That's gonna be something…insane. Malcolm Catto, the drummer (from the record), is gonna come on tour with us, so this is really special– he's so crazy. My first bass player from a few years ago is coming back as well, he's a fantastic bass player so I think it's gonna groove! It’s gonna be fun and wild, so I think it's gonna be like old days ....Those kinds of rock shows, which is cool.
BEAU: Excellent– well we're looking forward so much!
MELODY: Thank you, me too thanks for the support.
BEAU: Of course! So wonderful to talk to you, the record is gorgeous. Not that you need the best of luck, but I hope you have a wonderful release!
MELODY: The world needs the best of luck.
BEAU: Yes, agreed— we'll just keep listening to “Burning Man” then!
MELODY: Yeah exactly! Thanks! Bye, see you soon!
BEAU: Thanks again! Bye!
The new album Unclouded, by Melody’s Echo Chamber is out everywhere tomorrow, December 5th, via Domino Records.
Melody’s Echo Chamber plays at Webster Hall in NYC in May 2026— get your tickets here.
You can buy the Unclouded vinyl on pink and green “Daisy Splatter” wax through Levitation here, or through Domino Records here.
You can check Melody’s tour dates/ website here.
You can check out all of her music videos here.
And you can listen directly below!