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**Echobelly - "On"**
★★★★☆

In the mid-'90s, when Britpop was reaching its testosterone-fueled peak with the Gallagher brothers trading barbs and Damon Albarn sneering his way through "Country House," a Swedish-born singer named Sonya Madan was quietly crafting some of the most incisive and melodically sophisticated songs of the entire movement. Her band Echobelly never quite achieved the commercial heights of their more bombastic contemporaries, but their 1995 sophomore effort "On" stands as perhaps the most underrated gem of the era – a collection that proves intelligence and accessibility aren't mutually exclusive.

Following the critical success of their 1994 debut "Everyone's Got One," Echobelly found themselves in that precarious position familiar to many second-album artists: how to build on early promise without losing the spark that made them special in the first place. The band, anchored by Madan's crystalline vocals and guitarist Glenn Johansson's jangly, effects-laden soundscapes, had already established themselves as purveyors of smart, politically conscious indie-pop that owed as much to The Smiths as it did to Blondie. But "On" represented a quantum leap forward, both sonically and thematically.

Recorded with producer Gil Norton – the man behind Pixies' "Doolittle" and Foo Fighters' "The Colour and the Shape" – "On" benefits from a production approach that manages to be both pristine and gritty. Norton's touch allows Madan's vocals to soar above dense layers of guitar while maintaining the raw energy that made Echobelly's live shows so compelling. The result is an album that sounds simultaneously intimate and anthemic, a trick that eluded many of their Britpop peers who often favored bluster over nuance.

The album's crown jewel is undoubtedly "Great Things," a soaring meditation on ambition and self-doubt that showcases everything that made Echobelly special. Madan's vocals dance between vulnerability and defiance while Johansson's guitar work creates a wall of sound that's both dreamy and urgent. It's the kind of song that should have been a massive hit – and indeed, it did crack the UK Top 20 – but somehow never received the cultural recognition it deserved. "King of the Kerb" follows closely behind, a driving rocker that finds Madan exploring themes of urban alienation with the kind of literary sophistication that would make Morrissey proud.

Perhaps most impressive is how the band tackles weighty subjects without ever sounding preachy or pretentious. "Dark Therapy" confronts mental health with startling honesty, while "Natural Animal" examines gender dynamics and sexual politics with a directness that was still relatively rare in mid-'90s rock. Madan's background as a philosophy student shines through in her lyrics, which manage to be both intellectually rigorous and emotionally immediate.

The album's sonic palette draws from an impressive range of influences. There's the jangly post-punk of "Car Fiction," which wouldn't sound out of place on a Siouxsie and the Banshees record, and the dreamy shoegaze textures of "Something Hot in a Cold Country," which predates the current revival of that sound by nearly three decades. Throughout it all, Echobelly maintains a coherent identity, largely thanks to Madan's distinctive voice and the band's knack for crafting memorable hooks.

Sadly, "On" would prove to be Echobelly's commercial peak. While the album spawned several UK chart entries and earned glowing reviews, the band found themselves increasingly overshadowed by the Oasis-Blur circus that dominated British music headlines. Their subsequent releases, while often excellent, never quite recaptured the lightning-in-a-bottle quality of "On."

Today, nearly three decades later, "On" sounds remarkably fresh. In an era when artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Snail Mail are being praised for combining indie sensibilities with emotional directness, Echobelly's approach feels prophetic rather than dated. The album's exploration of identity, politics, and personal relationships resonates strongly with contemporary listeners, while its sonic adventurousness still sounds bold and innovative.

"On" deserves to be remembered as more than just a footnote to Britpop history. It's a masterclass in intelligent pop songwriting, a