It's been a few years since we've last heard a solo album from Sam Evian. 2018's You, Forever offered hints as to the direction Evian was intent on pursuing. And further signs were found in that fab solo album from Kazu of Blonde Redhead that Sam appeared on two years ago. Still, the pleasures of Time to Melt, the new Sam album out on Friday via Fat Possum, are still surprisingly impressive.
Opener "Freeze Pops" and the breezy "Dream Free" that follows are pristine pop, part Politti and part O.M.D. All throughout Time to Melt Evian blends a delicious throwback sinewy white boy soul with a decidedly Eighties New Wave sheen of production. Most of the stuff has a vaguely similar feel, though Sam, wisely, plays with tempo and rhythm, serving up numbers like "Arnold's Place", a fairly successful rhythmic slow-burner.
Time to Melt could have become a prisoner of the influences that Sam Evian can't shake. Instead, unlike some offerings by a few of his peers, this is a release that brims with promise. I wish more of this had the crunch of "Never Know", or the sheer sing-ability of "Easy to Love", but Time to Melt is uniformly a pleasure to listen to. If you're in the right mood, the retro pleasures of this new Sam Evian long-player will be significant ones. The whole enterprise is an example of how a gifted musician can do a lot within the confines of a chosen style.
Time to Melt is out on Friday via Fat Possum.
More details on Sam Evian via the official website.
[Photo: Josh Goleman]