The talented Welsh singer songwriter with the enchanting voice returns with an album of reflective songs about loneliness and heartache
“If life is like an ocean vast and wide / Climb in my battered boat let’s mount this tide,” sings Lowri Evans in her effortlessly graceful voice on Wanted Heart. There are similar pearls dotted throughout her latest release, shared over an elegant acoustic backdrop, which allows the Welsh singer’s vocals to shine. Themes of loneliness, estrangement and ending relationships dominate much of the album, in some ways at odds with the peaceful nature of the music.
Mason Neely’s (Cerys Matthews, Sufjan Stevens, Lambchop) production rightfully keeps Evans’ voice as the main focus, but also enlists a welcome supporting cast. The double bass on Don’t Know Why, ukulele on Stars and strings on Seventeen all add to the record’s charm, without ever dominating, and the album’s instrumental coda provides them with a fitting moment in the spotlight.
The instant familiarity of songs like Piece Of Me and Rolling On comes at the expense of originality, falling the wrong side of the well-trodden singer-songwriter path. At her best though, as on the exquisite We Were In Love, Evans’ gifts are obvious – complete with the wistfully perfect opening couplet: “We were in love / We were so sickening”. Aside from the occasional lapse, Everyone Is From Somewhere Else is yet another worthy addition to an already impressive body of work.
Verdict: An understated and charming treat
Duncan Haskell
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