New Evenings – “Friend (Lover)”

On April 16, Friends of Friends’ latest signee, Evenings, will release his debut LP Yore, which will consist of remastered versions of the Virginia-native’s earlier self-releases. “Friend (Lover)” is the first taste from the EP and features many of the familiar characteristics we’ve come to know and love from FoF release. The claps/organic percussion, melancholic vibe and codeine-drenched vocal work all sound innately familiar, but that’s the beauty of Evenings: His music is dissociative in its sense of comfort. Like most of Kid Smpl’s work (who also featured on FoF’s Show Me The Future compilation), Evenings’ music is best suited for headphone listening and carries with it the connotation of some sort of intense emotional experience. Both artist’s music vaguely reminds me of this Zadie Smith essay, specifically the deeply emotive qualities she connotes in certain situations. Both Evenings and Kid Smpl both bring out what Smith refers to as “joy”, “that strange admixture of terror, pain, and delight.” Instead of the visceral qualities of joy that Smith describes though, Evenings’ music is more abstract and implacable. The listener gets a warm feeling of deja vu when listening to “Friend (Lover)”, but can’t even begin to remember where the feeling comes from. It’s a thrilling way to come out of listening to such melancholic music. Stream below and look out for Yore on April 16.