Evan Thomas Way’s career as the frontman for the Parson Red Heads has made the warmth of his voice synonymous with the band’s hope-filled songs. This is why his new solo record is a surprise. While maintaining the layered guitar harmonies and the gentleness of his voice, the songs on Long Distance – out May 3rd on Lung Records – are darker and more deeply personal. The songs were written throughout Evan’s life and recorded secretly as a gift for his wife. Evan is joined by The Phasers—Raymond Richards (who co-produced the record along with Evan and plays electric guitar and pedal steel), Adam Beam (drums), and Alex Chapman (bass), with support from Michael Blake (keys), Eric Earley (organ) and Ben Latimer (saxophone). The result is an album of astonishing intimacy.
The lyrics walk the line between dogged hope and the weariness of daily life. They are the stories of those who are torn between giving up and pressing on. The album resists providing a definitive answer. “Don’t fall away,” Evan encourages his listeners—“there’s a number on your life,” but later on the album he resigns himself to the realization that “all that was nonsense the moment I woke.” This honesty makes for an album of fragile transparency, giving space to the doubts that haunt us all.
Through both the honest emotions of an ordinary life and the comfort of melody and harmony, Evan has given his listeners an album with which to make sense of their own lives. His lyrics provide a voice for those who are hurting while his music is a comfort for those who are healing. Immediately accessible, yet unfolding the true strength of its songwriting and musicianship over subsequent listens, Long Distance is a small jewel.
All of this can be heard in the album’s title track, which we are delighted to premiere on Glide today. The song comes in with a simple acoustic guitar strumming before a Neil Young-esque electric guitar cuts in. It’s fitting that the band’s self-described goal was “Neil Young by way of shoegaze,” and they definitely nail it. Evan’s falsetto lends itself naturally to the band’s harmonies, and the vocals and music bring to mind that wonderful mix of alt-country and power pop done by groups like the Jayhawks and Wilco. The song is sure to please longtime fans of the Parson Red Heads while also proving that Evan has refreshed his sound with The Phasers for something that is a little different.
Sharing the inspiration behind the song, Evan has this to say:
“‘Long Distance’, the title track from the new record, is a song that has kicked around for awhile, probably 7 or 8 years at this point. We’d moved from Los Angeles, where we’d been living for about 6 years playing music, back to Oregon, and were settling into a new pace and season of life, and I think that is what this song is ruminating on. It’s not 100% autobiographical, most of my songs aren’t. But it’s me meditating on moving to a new state, to a new city, to a new community…as if I were someone else, if that makes sense.”
LISTEN:
Long Distance is out on Lung Records on May 3rd. PRE-ORDER
Photo credit: David Beach
