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Mar 25, 2024 Web Exclusive By Mark Moody

The mid-’80s were awash in action verb titled albums with the likes of INXS’ Kick, The Human League’s Crash, and the more obscure Van Dyke Parks’ Jump!. Aside from sharing the call to get moving, Sam Evian’s fourth solo album, Plunge, has little in common with the referenced albums. After 2021’s more synth forward Time to Melt, Evian smartly retreats to the more guitar dominated sounds that emanated from 2018’s You, Forever, which if you haven’t heard it is one of the tightest guitar-forward albums of the prior decade.

The most obvious touchstone for Plunge’s winning melodic formula is George Harrison’s solo work outside The Beatles and as the fictional Nelson Wilbury, who penned the star-studded Traveling Wilbury’s first three singles. The second song here, “Jacket,” filters Harrison’s “End of the Line” through the sing-along antics of The Beatles “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” courtesy of “oohs” and “aahs” provided by Hannah Cohen and Megan Lui. And the closing countrified “Stay,” with its fluid guitar lines, would have easily slotted in on Harrison’s Living in the Material World.

Plunge’s title refers to the daily “polar plunges” that Evian took during the recording of the album, but thematically the record explores his parents’ on-again, off-again relationship through their eyes. The opening track, “Wild Days,” with its fully cranked guitars, juxtaposes a lover’s leaving (“my baby doesn’t know why I’m gone”) with a longing to return (“all my heart is ticking for another try”). While the previously referenced closer points to reconciliation and acceptance (“I want you to stay here, by my side”).

Evian is as much known for his production and technical assists (sometimes operating under his true surname, Owens) for artists such as Big Thief and Palehound. Here, Adrianne Lenker and El Kempner, respectively, return the favor. Lenker with the album’s most massive guitar solo on “Why Does It Take So Long” and Kempner on “Another Way,” which showcases a flurry of bent and broken notes as they tangle with Evian’s own guitar work. One of the most infectious tracks here, it’s too bad “Another Way” has the shortest running time on the record. The song’s abrupt end could have benefited from the extended treatment “Health Machine” received on You, Forever.

There are subtle shifts in approaches that make every track here well worth exploring. The lushly romantic “Rollin’ In” shares the watery imagery of Richard Hawley’s Lady’s Bridge. And the groove-laden “Freakz” shows off Evian’s funkier proclivities. Blessed with tight writing, surefire melodies, and a cast of all-star musicians, Plunge is well worth jumping into. That his parents’ story has a happy ending is the all too rare outcome of what most emotionally charged indie rock has on offer. (www.samevian.com)

Author rating: 8/10