EVENSON: FINDING LIGHT IN THE DARK

1 hour ago

4 min read

We’re going back to Mother Nature. And where better to do a little soul-searching than tucked away amongst the trees, away from the noise of everything else? For Connecticut-born artist and creative Evenson, solitude became the setting for Eve. A debut album shaped by reflection, relationships, identity and the slightly messy business of figuring out who you are.

Written largely during solitary cabin retreats in the woods, Eve feels like an album built from looking inward. Across its nine tracks, Evenson explores love, family, masculinity, heritage, heartbreak and forgiveness, confronting both the lighter and darker corners of himself along the way. It’s vulnerable without feeling neatly resolved because, as Evenson makes clear, he certainly isn’t claiming to have everything figured out.

“This record is a culmination of my life. It’s 28 years of experience. The ebbs and flows of the human condition. A confrontation with self; not only the good, but the darker parts too,” he explains.

And while its creation might have taken place in the quiet of the woods, Eve is far from a quiet listen. Atmospheric alt-pop textures meet soul-infused melodies, intricate vocal layers, funk-leaning grooves and moments of serious sonic swagger. There’s a warmth running through the record that makes its introspection feel less like sitting alone with your thoughts and more like finally giving yourself the space to actually listen to them.

At the heart of that journey is Evenson’s Haitian heritage, which provides another layer to the album’s understanding of resilience, identity and selfhood. “My Haitian heritage is my guiding light,” he says, speaking of the pride he carries in his roots and the enduring strength inherited from those who came before him. Music, he reflects, has long been more than expression, it can preserve history, hold people together and offer a route towards liberation.

It’s this sense of inherited resilience that seems to sit quietly beneath Eve, even when Evenson is examining the parts of himself he might rather avoid. Rather than offering easy answers, the album seems more interested in asking better questions.

And then comes “Retrograde,” perhaps the most fitting place for this particular journey to get a little out of sync.

The two-part sequence plays with time, presenting the story of a relationship backwards. “Retrograde Pt. 2” gives us the beginning, while “Retrograde Pt. 1” (the album’s focus track) arrives later, showing us what comes after. The result is a relationship told in reverse: its beginnings, its unraveling, and all the small moments in between that only become significant once it’s already too late.“If Pt. 2 is the beginning, then Pt. 1 is what comes after,” Evenson explains. “Which feels strangely appropriate because the whole idea of ‘Retrograde’ is about time feeling out of sync.”

It’s a clever concept, but there’s something deeply human underneath it. Relationships rarely collapse with one enormous cinematic moment; sometimes it’s the quieter things - old habits, unresolved wounds, missed opportunities - that slowly shift the foundations beneath us. By experiencing the ending before fully understanding the beginning, Evenson asks us to reconsider how we remember our own relationships, too.

And with the planets seemingly aligned creatively, “Retrograde Pt. 1” is accompanied by striking visuals created alongside Japanese-American filmmaker Justin Kaminuma, whose previous work includes The Cure, YUNGBLUD and Disclosure. It’s another example of Evenson’s wider creative world-building, where the visual language feels just as considered as the music itself. Elsewhere, Eve moves through moments of awakening, longing and hope. “The Way I Feel” brings a smooth pop-funk pulse to the record, while “Someday” turns uncertainty into something almost mantra-like. The repeated promise that one day he’ll find love, one day he’ll figure it out. There’s comfort in admitting that you’re still on the way.

Perhaps that’s what makes Eve feel so relatable. Evenson isn’t presenting himself as someone who has arrived at some grand conclusion. He’s documenting the process of getting there - the mistakes, the relationships, the heritage, the questions and the uncomfortable moments of self-confrontation that make up a life.

Much like our own solar system, Evenson is building something that feels infinite. There are things orbiting around him that he’s still trying to understand, and maybe that’s the point. Eve doesn’t pretend that every answer is waiting at the end of the record. Instead, it leaves space for growth, forgiveness and the possibility that figuring yourself out is a lifelong project.

“I never wanted this album to sound as though I had figured everything out,” Evenson says. “My hope is simply that the listener reaches the end with a clearer sense of self and a more honest reflection staring back at them in the mirror.”

After spending so much of Eve looking inward, it felt fitting to see Evenson bring that world to London. And, if his appearance at All Points East was anything to go by, he’s certainly capable of turning all that introspection into something electric. Taking to the stage at the iconic festival, the sombre solitude of those cabin retreats suddenly felt a world away. There was energy, movement and pure, unfiltered joy pouring from the stage as Evenson brought his music to life in front of a London crowd.

“So many miles from home, yet somehow I found another home within you,” he later shared. “Thank you for listening to the music, carrying it with you, and keeping it close to your hearts. That means more to me than I can put into words.”

We’re pretty sure London feels the same. Until next time, Evenson, we’ll be waiting.