Plunge: Clearwater Blue Vinyl LP

Label: Flying Cloud Records
Release Date: 22nd March

Sam Evian is dead good at making records sound rich, like they were made in the "golden age" of the studio album, like when the Beatles showed the world how a record could sound and soon the world wanted to bring that sound to every record. It's without surprise that this album is a chip off a McCartney block, it's got that sunshining happy swing with elements of lap steel yearning and homely dream pop. 

For those who dig: Cut Worms, Bonny Doon, Michael Nau, Richard Swift, Drugdealer, Michael Rault...

Plunge is Sam Evian's 4th studio album, and the debut on his new imprint Flying Cloud Recordings/Thirty Tigers set for release on March 22, 2024. Joined by his closest friends and collaborators (including Liam Kazar, Sean Mullins, El Kempner of Palehound and Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief), the album was tracked live to tape in the early winter months of 2023 over a 10-day period at his quaint Flying Cloud Recording studio tucked away in the Catskills Mountains. With a wide-open recording approach, the result is Evian’s best album to date: a cathartic rock record that melds power pop, iridescent guitar, raucous psychedelia, and Sam’s now sought-after grooves. The music is both fresh and familiar, sonically inspired by his penchant for early 70s production and creatively propelled by the free-spirited process depicted in the Beatles documentary Get Back, as well as his urge to let go. “No-one knew the songs or what the plan was. We kept it loose and fun. This was the spirit of the sessions. No headphones, no playback, minimal overdubs, or bleed. Fast and loose” Evian remarks. Lyrically, Plunge is heavier than previous records, touching on themes surrounding his family, from unearthing past traumas, to celebrating his parents’ creative influence on his life. “Relationships stalling, failing, coming back together,” says Evian. It is an album about love. It’s an homage to true love finding its way home, even if it takes a bit of a beating along the way.