L to R: Graham Sierota, Sydney Sierota and Noah Sierota of Echosmith. Courtesy Nightdove Studio.

Nearly every time Sydney Sierota mentions her band, Echosmith, the singer and keyboardist also says “family.”

The Southern California group has always been a family band, including her brothers Noah (bass, production) and Graham Sierota (drums). Their third brother, Jamie, was the guitarist in the beginning, while the siblings’ parents managed production and logistics.

But a decade on from their breakthrough, “Cool Kids,” Echosmith are kids no longer. They’re all in their mid- to late 20s, most with families of their own now. That adds a new dimension, not only to their first tour since before the pandemic, but for the next album, currently in development. The changes coincide with the second life of that hit song, which Echosmith re-recorded just as a popular TikTok trend revitalized the original, bringing attention to the topic of personal growth.

Sydney Sierota calls it a career-defining song. She was 15 when she wrote it, 16 when it came out and is now 25.

“Those are very pivotal years coming of age, and it kind of represents that growth for me as an adult. I feel like I really got to grow up alongside this song,” she said a day before the band began rehearsals for the tour, which kicked off last week.

Back then, the song was about Sierota’s insecurity, like going out without makeup on and figuring out who she was as a person. She acknowledges she still has a ways to go, but at the same time, listening to the song now tells her how far she’s come.

“It’s cool to look back now and see where I’ve grown in those areas, and then to see why I still relate to the song now because we’re always a work in progress,” she said. “I’m not alone in that feeling of wanting to fit in and sometimes having a hard time accepting myself. I can also celebrate the fact that I have come a long way since I’ve written it. I think that’s kind of what the song represents for me now, and probably always will be.”

Re-recording “Cool Kids” accomplished two things for Echosmith. The more tangible reason was ownership. In the post-Taylor-Swift music industry landscaping, tacking on “Our Version” at the end of the title is a statement to reclaim property rights that were at one point taken away from an artist.

But it also gave the three members an opportunity to address both a moment in the song that they have wanted to expand on for a while, and—bigger picture—look inward to find their purpose for making music after leaving a major label and growing in their lives outside of the band.

“We don’t want to just do this for the sake of doing it, and just do it to own the song,” she said. “Of course, that piece of it is awesome. It’s great to have the creative freedom there, and it feels really empowering as an artist to do it differently. …  When we wrote that bridge … that’s when we went in the studio and finished the whole song. It was a cool full-circle moment that was so much more than just about the master. That piece of it is also really exciting for us as artists.”

“Cool Kids” has been certified triple-platinum, while “Bright,” the second major single from their 2013 album, Talking Dreams, became a double-platinum song. The album itself was certified gold. Seven years would pass before Echosmith followed it up with a sophomore album, 2020’s Lonely Generation.

With nary a negative word, Sydney Sierota chalks up the long wait first due to working on the timing of the band’s previous label, Warner, and then going independent.

“We went through a lot of changes between album one and two, in every regard,” she said. “When we were on a major label, there were a lot of pieces to the puzzle, and a lot of people to please, and a lot of things going on.”

At times, the members questioned their motivation or the songwriting process that was asked of them. Sometimes they felt like writing more but could not. Other times, the process seemed inauthentic.

“We want it to be ultimately something that we feel passionate about for our fans as opposed to just one person [at a label],” she said.

Eventually the band separated from Warner, started its own label and partnered with others for distribution. The trio felt in control of its vision and creativity again, but the pandemic stifled touring and promotion plans.

Still, Sierota said she doesn’t regret what Echosmith went through making that album because it led the siblings to where they are now. That is making music true to the band rather than “this perfect, pinned-up version” that was asked of them before.

“At the end of the day, it’s all part of our story,” she said. “With this new music, that’s us taking another step forward into doing our own thing and giving ourselves the space and creative freedom to make Echosmith what we want to make it.”

The vision for the current phase of the band was cemented with love song “Hang Around,” when the siblings reunited in SoCal to work on music. Graham Sierota, who lives in Idaho now, and Sydney, who calls San Diego home with her husband, gathered with Noah for the get-together. Even 29-year-old Jamie, who left the band in 2016 because his wife was pregnant, was back on an informal basis, helping with production.

“Hang Around” is a love song about Sydney’s and Noah’s relationships with their spouses; it’s about finding your complete self with another person. Noah wrote the demo and sent it to his sister, who pieced together lyrics while driving to her brother’s home studio, where much of the recording took place.

The recording took place that same day, but real revelation about the band’s sound came the next morning, when everyone was still as excited. The final version of the song is very similar to the demo, Sydney Sierota said.

She said she’s excited to have her older brother, who’s been working on solo music and as a producer, back in any capacity, which is even more special now. Besides co-producing “Hang Around,” he also co-produced new single “Gelato” with Noah, a couple more singles in the pipeline, and is still working with the band as it continues to work on the band’s third album.

“It’s something that I think needs to happen in its own time because we’ve always loved making music all together as the full set of siblings,” she said. “We’re just hanging out in Jamie’s home studio or Noah’s home studio, having fun, laughing our heads off. … That’s why it’s so fun being a band with your family, where you feel like you’re created to do this together.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.