Okay. I’m a Welsh bloke. Born, raised, still got the accent. I am scratching my noggin trying to think of a more Welsh name than Evan Rhys though! This multi-instrumentalist from New Plymouth certainly means business, and I’ll tell you for why.

There’s not many who I have known who would engage man-who-is-everywhere-right-now, the infallible Scott Seabright AND my fellow Welshman and buddy, world-renowned Greg Haver, as their studio gurus. He’s even got Greg playing drums for the track! Recorded at Parachute Studios, this absolutely drips professional intent and is a statement of the same, by the information imparted. I hope that made sense? It did to me, so hey ho. Topping off the mix (so to speak) we can add Greg’s long-time confederate Clint Murphy for the mix, and add the great Ryan Smith for the mastering, done at Sterling Sound in Nashville, Tennessee.

Looking at Evan‘s day job, which I won’t give away (no, he’s not a spy for Plaid Cymru or YesCymru – at least I don’t think so), it’s no surprise to me that he’s played all other instruments on the track. Vocals, guitars, keys, and bass. The track has lent itself very well to Scott‘s innate ability to “get” a song. Evan‘s vocal borders on dream-pop but remains in adult orientated indie realms in my view. It’s a very strong, stable tenor, but he can dip into a solid baritone too. It’s from down deep too, nothing wishy-washy about the vocal.

I felt a Keane or Coldplay feel to the orchestration and mix. This is good, because Coldplay – and acts of that ilk – are always in demand and are very much welcomed by upper-end Millennials and us irretrievably cool Generation X people. It’s got some parts that are rockier than the aforementioned Coldplay, and the melody stands out as something that would do well under mechanical licencing (Jan Hellriegel and Songbroker would be invaluable there), as it would be a great accompaniment to a movie or TV show. Other than that, it would sit well in company, post dinner party, or entertaining at the barbie in the sun.

It’s a more thoughtful, introspective song, and I’m unsure of the pull it would have with commercial radio such as ZM or More FM, but the technical performance and the polished level of production combined with the very sweet melody could easily prove me wrong. Remember – I’m just voicing my own opinion. I want you to listen to this and voice yours too! It would do some mileage on student radio and regional stations, definitely. A promo video would give it legs on the visual side.

The subject material of the lyrics is pretty cool. Mental Health. The Rise and the Fall of ones breath, being likened to good preceding bad, then bad fading to good again, as rhythmic cycles. Extolling you to remember that it does get better again and to hold on to hope. Such an important subject that should always be talked about openly.

This is really good, frankly. Technically astute on all instruments, Evan has ensured he’s delivered a professionally produced piece of work worthy of his musicianship. His social media page shows pics of him with a band. I’d be very keen to hear him in front of them.

Go check out Evan Rhys on his social media. Despite his name, Greg Haver in the studio and me reviewing, everything is in English; no Welsh anywhere. LOL – as these young people say.