“My head is a highway all the time.”
We’re in an era of gorgeous singer-songwriter records. In this modern landscape, there really is no excuse for banal and uninspired production from the poetically inclined (naming no names). The way is being shown by the likes of Hozier, Paris Paloma, and the Boygenius crew, who are making stellar records that elevate simple songs to the heights they deserve. The left hand path of stripped-back, dark, and gloomy moods is walked by Emma Ruth Rundle, Midwife, and Ethel Cain, finding admiration for their unique approaches. Sophia Regina Allison, better known as Soccer Mommy, is beginning to be named among these ranks with her dazzling yet honest songwriting. Her new record, Evergreen, is a solid addition to her discography, but it won’t set her career alight.
Evergreen bears all of Soccer Mommy‘s hallmarks – personable and direct guitar ballads, embellished by her band and carefully chosen extra sounds. Far from being overwrought, these songs are direct, painting with just the colours they need. Strings are quilted into opener “Lost” and closer “Evergreen” providing coherent bookends, as well as the long stretches in the slow “Changes”. On the uptempo tracks the crisp percussion snaps as it should, and all the keys clinch a coveted retro vibe. She brings some trademark brashness to the palette at times, with deliberately awkward melodies and textures, foiling to sickly sweetness that could set in on a singer songwriter record. The final piece is Allison’s not-quite-sung vocal delivery, wrapping all the tracks in an essential ambiguity.
The record adds some strong tracks to Soccer Mommy’s repertoire. Starting with the singles, “Driver” is Allison in rock-out mode, complete with grooving riffs and fuzzed solo. It skips two beats in its verse, an awkward choice at first that quickly becomes an earworm to match its strong chorus. “Abigail” is written for its Stardew Valley namesake, an absolutely head-over-heels love song (it’s just a shame that ‘amethyst’ is so hard to rhyme). “Lost” and “M” are more understated singles that open Evergreen with gentle charm. Other strong tracks include the danceable “Changes” and “Salt In Wound”, woozy and groovy respectively. For a slice of the subtlety that Soccer Mommy should be known for, try “Thinking Of You” which has many faces and shifts between them gracefully, maintaining catchiness through its two part chorus.
The record has some less remarkable tracks which contribute to its atmosphere but offer little more. With its Boards of Canada-lead melody, “Some Sunny Day” gives the record’s mid stretch an idyllic tone. “Dreaming of Falling” is a tender track, but comes short of landing a real emotional gut-punch that it absolutely could have landed. The brash “Anchor“‘s sour tone lingers long into the closer “Evergreen“, which is itself too short to recover, leaving the record with a muddled finish.
Unfortunately, looking back in time is not kind to Evergreen, as even its strongest tracks do not rival the equivalent moments on Clean, Color Theory, or Sometimes, Forever. Beyond “Driver” and “Abigail” it’s a struggle to see much of this record on a set list. A few more remarkable moments in the record’s latter stretch would have gone a long way to making Evergreen more magnetic. That’s not to say it’s not without its charms, and hasn’t been a good direction to take for the time being. Allison’s understated approach is authentic, honest, and ultimately brave, but when ‘understated’ does not land, it too easily comes across as the lack of a statement.
6/10
Evergreen drops today, 25th October, and can be ordered here.