1994

Like unpolluted birdsong or fitness king Joe Wicks’ countdown buzzer, Nathan Evans singing sea shanties online is a sound that will always take Britain back to the days of the pandemic. In particular, the Airdrie artist’s viral take on whaling song “Wellerman” landed him a chart-topping single in 2021 and a major-label record deal. For all the success those covers brought the former postman, and all the joy they offered a locked-down nation, his focus was always establishing himself as a singer-songwriter of original material—a purpose this album serves well. Evans’ warm songs of love, resilience and optimism borrow liberally from folk tradition: the busy banjoes and whisky drinking of “Perfect Storm”; the gleeful fiddle scribbling through “Highland Girl”; and the haunted harmonies and intricately picked acoustic guitar of Foy Vance collaboration “I’m a Man”. However, “Perfect Storm”’s lyrical nod to Snow Patrol—“And now we’re dancing where the band played ‘Chasing Cars’”—is also instructive. “Days of Our Lives”, which bounds into into Coldplay territory by shaping its adhesive melody around club-ready synths and beats, and stirring pop ballad “100 Miles” suggest ambitions that extend beyond hoedowns and campfires to arenas and stadiums. There’s little on <i>1994</i> to say that would be a wild fantasy.