Appearing the same month as its companion release Tiny Dynamine, Echoes maintains the more relaxed-though-still-lush feeling of that EP; if its songs aren't quite as memorable as some of those on Dynamine, they still provide that lovely, unique Cocteau feeling in their performances and arrangements. "Great Spangled Fritillary" adds a touch of dark psychedelia to the proceedings, gong-like chimes and buried feedback drones mixing with the more expected Fraser singing and drum machine loops. "Melonella" has a neat hook by matching the main piano line and Fraser's voice exactly in the verse, one constantly accompanying the other. For the chorus, she steps away for a little more free-form singing against extra guitar. "Pale Clouded White," the EP's best track, reintroduces the slightly ominous, dramatic edge that often characterizes the band's most memorable work. An insistent piano line matches with the bass/drum combination, while Guthrie incorporates both electric and acoustic guitar lines as Fraser sings with understated but strong passion. "Eggs and Their Shells" wraps Echoes up on a softer note, a sweet Fraser vocal and guitar/piano arrangement leading the way. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
Echoes in a Shallow Bay is an EP by the Scottish rock group Cocteau Twins, released on 4AD. The EP features four non-album tracks. It was issued on 29 November 1985 two weeks after another EP entitled Tiny Dynamine. The EP was also re-issued in 1991 as part of The Box Set and in 2005 as part of the singles/EP collection Lullabies to Violaine.
The band did not originally intend to release these songs to the general public, presumably explaining the decision to release the material on EPs, rather than as what would have been their fourth album. The tracks on Tiny Dynamine and Echoes in a Shallow Bay were initially recorded to test the production capacities of a new studio. When the band decided the material was strong enough for release, they completed the recording process and issued the finished product on two EPs.
"Pale Clouded White" has been performed live. A remastered version of the song appears on the 2000 compilation Stars and Topsoil.
With Fraser's typically indecipherable lyrics it is difficult to be sure, but all the titles on the two EPs seem to have some link with Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). The Great Spangled Fritillary is a butterfly and while there is no Pale Clouded White there is a Pale Clouded Yellow (as well as a group of butterflies known as whites), while Mellonella is the specific name of the Wax Moth Galleria mellonella. The lyrics of this track consist of Fraser reciting the scientific names of the families of British moths. Lepidoptera eggs do not have shells though.
