Mikky Ekko recently released the single “Time” from his debut album, also titled Time, which is due to drop on January 20th, 2015. The New Orleans-raised singer/songwriter rose to prominence in 2013 after being featured on Rhianna’s hit single, “Stay.” His songs have also been featured on television shows such as HBO’s True Blood and MTV’s Teen Wolf.
Ekko’s earlier music has a rather somber and at times haunting quality to it. You can clearly sense the bluesy influences from his southern roots, even though his music resides in the pop genre. However, he reaches into a softer and more vulnerable place with “Time.” The song has a graceful flow that is guided by Ekko’s smooth vocals, which are paired with acoustic guitar.
His vocals are astounding in all of his songs, including this one. He has a wide vocal range and since the instrumentation is pretty minimal in this song his voice is given space to shine. There is a clear rise and fall of the vocals that follow the lyrics and the timeline of the song. He gains more momentum towards the end of the song but he never sounds forced, even when he goes into the more challenging falsetto sections of the track.
Like many of his other songs “Time” is about love. Ekko professes that although youth is fleeting and time is not on their side, his love his eternal. It is a simple sentiment but Ekko does make it more interesting with the metaphors and language that he chooses in his lyrics. He sings, “On a tree in the garden I carved your name, in a word is spelled desire! Like an ocean deep with the waters even, even.” He eloquently states that his affection is consistent enough not to be erased by the superficial aspects of a relationship that fade with time. One great thing about his songs is that he’s able to convey messages without being too transparent or too obscure. He gives us just the right amount of colorful language to be poetic and not too challenging.
“Time” is the fifth track on his upcoming album. It is a successful single that showcases a more raw side of the artist. It’s the kind of song that you feel yourself just drifting off to while you listen to it. His vocals are so dreamy that you just get lost in them and the lyrics are beautifully written. Ekko has a promising future; we can definitely expect him to make waves in 2015 with the release of his debut album.