Echoes: Ancient & Modern is a covers album by English music producer Trevor Horn, released on 1 December 2023 through Deutsche Grammophon.[1] Like his previous album Reimagines the Eighties (2019), the songs feature orchestration and are sung by guest vocalists, with the exception of "Avalon", sung by Horn himself. Three of the tracks included—"Owner of a Lonely Heart", "Slave to the Rhythm" and "Relax"—are tracks whose original recordings were produced by Horn.[2]
| Echoes: Ancient & Modern | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio albumby | ||||
| Released | 1 December 2023 (2023-12-01) | |||
| Length | 44:26 | |||
| Label | Deutsche Grammophon | |||
| Producer | Trevor Horn | |||
| Trevor Horn chronology | ||||
| ||||
Horn first mentioned the album in an August 2021 interview, suggesting that it was "eighties chill" compared to his previous album, Reimagines the Eighties (2019).[3]
Horn stated that "finding the right singers was as important as finding the songs, probably more so" and called it an album by himself "as a kind of auteur" that is "the artist commissioning other artists rather than them hiring" him.[1] In regards to recording new versions of tracks he originally produced, Horn commented that as it is "an album under [his] name, there is a certain expectation to do the big hits" and he tried to think of different ways to approach his previous productions.[4] Aside from these, Horn chose to cover "hit singles" that he enjoys.[5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Arts Desk |   [6] |
| I | [7] |
| Retropop | [8] |
| The Scotsman | [9] |
Retropop commented that it is "all too easy to slip into karaoke territory, but one so masterful as Horn knows how to avoid such pitfalls and, with a stellar ensemble of vocalists at his disposal, shows himself once again to be one of British music's finest".[8] Fiona Shepherd of The Scotsman called Horn's cover of "Avalon" both "tasteful" and "twinkling" but called his version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" an "overly melodramatic orchestral" rendition and found there to be "odd matches", namely Corr, Astley, Wilcox and Fripp's contributions.[9]
Reviewing the album for The Arts Desk, Thomas H Green felt that the trend of slowing down pop songs into acoustic or orchestral versions "renders sonic perfection as bland, naff slop. Such is the case with Trevor Horn's latest" as beyond Tori Amos's version of "Swimming Pools (Drank)", "things flop about between the dismal, the pointless and the excruciating".[6] I's Ed Power opined that the album "never really justifies its existence", calling Astley's take on "Owner of a Lonely Heart" a "karaoke go" and the following tracks "wildly uneven".[7]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Swimming Pools (Drank)" (featuring Tori Amos) |
| Kendrick Lamar | 3:56 |
| 2. | "Steppin' Out" (featuring Seal) | Joe Jackson | Joe Jackson | 4:24 |
| 3. | "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (featuring Rick Astley) |
| Yes | 3:42 |
| 4. | "Slave to the Rhythm" (featuring Lady Blackbird) |
| Grace Jones | 4:17 |
| 5. | "Love Is a Battlefield" (featuring Marc Almond) |
| Pat Benatar | 3:31 |
| 6. | "Personal Jesus" (featuring Iggy Pop and Phoebe Lunny) | Martin Gore | Depeche Mode | 3:26 |
| 7. | "Drive" (featuring Steve Hogarth) | Ric Ocasek | The Cars | 3:54 |
| 8. | "Relax" (featuring Toyah and Robert Fripp) |
| Frankie Goes to Hollywood | 4:06 |
| 9. | "White Wedding" (featuring Andrea Corr and Jack Lukeman) | Billy Idol | Billy Idol | 4:33 |
| 10. | "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (featuring Jack Lukeman) |
| Nirvana | 4:33 |
| 11. | "Avalon" | Bryan Ferry | Roxy Music | 4:04 |
| Total length: | 44:26 | |||
Musicians
Technical
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10] | 68 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] | 47 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[12] | 27 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[13] | 81 |