Album review: After trauma, Melody's Echo Chamber releases a wonderful trip of a record on '

To say that the last five years have been tough for musician Melody Prochet is a contender for the laziest take in music criticism.

After outshining her then-boyfriend, Kevin Parker, and his band, Tame Impala, with a full-length debut in 2012, Prochet's band Melody's Echo Chamber was just finding its audience. Then came the trauma.

In 2017, Prochet suffered an accident, experienced a brain aneurysm and broken vertebrae in her neck and spine. Tours were canceled, and Prochet was in the hospital for months.

A year following that accident, Prochet told reporters she is healed and feels blessed. Last week's release of her follow-up album, "Bon Voyage," is a sigh of relief. Not just because it is well-done, but also because Prochet's voice and music feels more confident.

Prochet made "Bon Voyage" in Sweden with members of the psychedelic rock band Dungen, among others, before her life was full of hospital beds and music blog speculation. You can hear influences bursting in each song — flute solos, lyrics in French and Swedish, guitar freak-outs, Shuggie Otis funk — and the album is free of the restraint heard on her debut.

"Cross My Heart" starts the album with the familiar/cool drum shuffle and sparkling guitar lines. Then, as if a radio dial has been rotated, the song switches gears, sounding like Arrested Development's "Tennessee," but with a French vocalist and more psychedelia. The song stays in the ’90s R&B space for a minute before returning to straighter rock. Then, the dial switches again, and there's a flute solo. Oh wait, now here's a massive guitar solo with whining violins in the background.

Did Prochet just write the greatest James Bond song ever? Have I had too much coffee? Is this album this good? The answer to all three of these questions is an emphatic yes.

What's great about "Bon Voyage" is that Prochet pulls off left turns like this across the album's 33 minutes. Never mind if it doesn't always work (the middle section of "Quand Les Larmes D'un Ange Font Danser La Neige" could have been cut), "Bon Voyage" is exciting, captivating and full of tasteful production.

If "Bon Voyage" is a true trip through Prochet's mind, it's a fantastic journey, and I'm glad to hear her music again.