The second album from this bearded folkie from Bristol is Evans' follow up to 2014's On Seeds And Shores. In it there are no overtly political songs but a kind of 'protest' against the fact that, through being preoccupied by our busy lives, we have lost a sense of innocence and purity.
Evans' recurring message is that we should pay more attention to nature than to creature comforts and notice details like "a blade of grass that can catch the morning dew" (Half Way There).
His lyrics focus either on aphorisms like "You'll live longer knowing you're not invincible" (It'll Break) or on phrases replete with enigmatic romanticism such as on The Banks May Burst: "If I were to take leaves out of your book, You'd stand an orchard on a winter's day".
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Throughout there is something quaintly anachronistic about songs that define modernity in terms of our relationship with devices like TVs and fridges rather than computers or smart phones.
The album is old school in every sense and the subtext of it all could be summed up in the words of Brian Wilson: "I guess I just wasn't made for these times".
Jim Evans' website
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