Only a few weeks after the release of their latest single for 2021, beloved Aussie rock icons Even have unveiled the details of their forthcoming eighth album, Reverse Light Years.
Having last released a full length album by way of 2018’s Satin Returns, the last two years have seen a handful of new tracks by Even coming forth, with June’s “Six Monkeys” serving as the first taste of their new upcoming album, before “Cherry Afterglow” arrived in mid-September to keep excitement at the forefront.
Now, the group have given fans the news they’ve been waiting for, revealing that Reverse Light Years will arrive on October 29th.
Described as very much being the product of lockdown, the difficult two years we’ve lived through have made it hard for the trio to emerge from their homes to hone their craft. While a handful of their annual Christmas Even shows did go ahead last year, it’s been difficult for the band – comprising Ash Naylor on guitar and vocals, Matthew Cotter on percussion, and Wally Kempton on bass – to hit up the studio as much as they would have preferred.
“Some of our previous albums have been partially recorded in my home studio space but this record was very different for obvious reasons,” explains Naylor. “No deadlines other than those self-imposed and no watching the clock. This freed me up to explore and indulge. The relative privacy of the home studio space afforded me the luxury to go deep into another world without distractions often attached to the recording process.”
The result is an album that sees Even exploring ground they’d not previously seen the opportunity to do so. While Naylor says such exploration (itself inspired by a lockdown-inspired fondness for Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys live record) is beneficial for the group in that affords them a freedom that was otherwise unexplored, it’s also resulted in a rather ambitious record, with Reverse Light Years serving as the group’s first double album.
“A double album is a bold artistic mindset as much as it is just a longer than usual collection of songs,” Naylor adds. “The aspirations for the band can be either lofty or very basic, or both… Once you’ve committed to the idea of a double, it frees you up to add songs that may be shorter or longer than you might normally place on an album, knowing you have created the sonic real estate to cater for it.”
“I’m not expecting people to sit through the whole record in one go but hopefully it is sequenced in such a way that the intermissions between sides afford the listener a break, kind of like watching four quarters of footy,” he concludes.
Whatever the case, Even’s legacy precedes them, inferring that no matter the length of Reverse Light Years, it’s on track to be one of their most accomplished records to date.
Even’s Reverse Light Years will be released on October 22nd via El Reno Music, with pre-orders available now.
