Single take.one.minute., for instance, is the answer to the question of what it would sound like having members of Linkin Park guest with My Bloody Valentine, but is way more refined than that description suggests. Evelyn is shoegazing prog as festival headline slot – ebbing and flowing around the ears as if band mastermind Cameron Humphrey were rendering his efforts live in front of you.
It hurts to know you’re there, meanwhile, illustrates that the contrast simplicity brings can be as striking as something elaborate, as Cameron dispenses a straight-shooting, Noel Gallagher-esque solo four-plus minutes into an otherwise more complex affair. It works because it’s done with so much affection for those constituent elements.
That these songs work individually and collectively is worthy of praise, but isn’t the best thing about this debut. That acclaim is reserved for the fact that for all Cameron’s talk about having created “something special” and “something our idols would’ve set out to create”, this is exactly what he’s done. Hyperbole is a stock in trade for musicians, but To live in a different way is worthy of it. It’ll break your heart in places, and your face in others.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Loathe, Static Dress, Deftones
To live in a different way is released on February 14 via Century Media