Albums

Evi Vine - ...And So The Morning Comes

Mike Hughes 04/12/2010

Rating: 3.5/5

I've lived with Evi Vine's album ... And So The Morning Comes for the best part of a month now and gotten used to its ways. Let me say from the outset that it is a thing of quietly muted attraction and one that both needs and repays persistence. It's almost too well mannered for it's own good and it runs the risk that it could become a safe dinner party soundtrack somewhere in Islington. Given full attention though, and played at enough volume to bring out the detail, it works. The first couple of tracks in particular put me in the emotional place I'd last found myself sitting simmering on outdoor couches on a Greek island whilst white sheets twitched in the breeze - the listless beauty of torpid and trance like days. There is cello in most of the tracks along with Rhodes piano. These and Evi's slowly unwinding voice add to a cohesive piece of mood music.

It takes until the third track 'In This Moment' to reveal a more assertive side to its beauty. This song shimmers in like a reflection on water gently disrupted by the ripples of a passing swan, but then Evi's voice takes off far more than hitherto, soaring high. The instrumentation becomes more expansive, till voice and instruments seem to use each other as stepping stones to the heights.

'Inside Her' is slow and acoustic, back to still days by glassy water. 'Colours of the Night' is a very different proposition. It leads in with harp by Tom Moth, who otherwise graces the stage with Florence Welch. Evi's voice is more clearly enunciated, words pushed forward by the harp. As the track opens up, bass, guitar and then cello and harp dance as ephemerally as mayflies.

'Kiss' sees Evi sing "I could cope with no rain, I could cope with no heaven" and the sound of a kettle drum and shakers - this is late night reverie indeed, and a mood which persists through sparse and hypnotic closing track 'All The Beauty'. This is not a hook laden record, certainly not one to dance to. On the other hand if you are looking for contemplative, that repays attention, then this might have your name written all over it.

Although she has been performing for the last 5 years, Evi's only previous release was a 4 track EP. Despite that she has snagged spots over those 5 year at Glastonbury, Latitude and Secret Garden, so you could say this has album, recorded at home in Kent, has been a long time coming.