Album Review: Bob Evans unveils ‘Tomorrowland’ – a sparkling and shimmering journey through time – along with news of an Australia-wide tour

Australian indie giants Jebediah’s front person was Kevin Mitchell, and Mitchell, in turn, is Bob Evans – a persona created to deliver Mitchell’s solo work. His new album, ‘Tomorrowland’ is a bright, shining and shimmering piece of work fusing an alt. country melancholia with an indie folk rock jangle and yet defies easy labelling throughout. Bob Evans may well be left with four hungry children and a crop on the field, but who cares when you can assuage the pain with a jangly pop delivery and a voice that can dispel any hurting.

The themes that tie the album together are the transience of life and the passage of time. Mitchell says of the album:

 I found that many of the songs and the lyrics I was writing were tied up in and wrapped around time.  The album starts with a song called ‘Born Yesterday’, which is about feeling nostalgic for my early adulthood and ends with a song called ‘End of the Day’, which is about the troubling uncertainty I feel about the future and how I reconcile that with being a parent of young children.  So I found that most of the songs are dealing with the mystery of the past and the future in some kind of way.  In many ways the past is as much a mystery as the unknown future.  Memories are funny things and our perspective on the past is constantly changing with time and as we age

Opening track ‘Born Yesterday’ is a fine start: razor-sharp guitars sparkle and jangle with Mitchell’s gorgeous mellifluous vocals a rough-hewn diamond: deep, rich and sonorous. Vaulting choruses and layers of harmonies add to the lustre as does a saxophone which is used with care – as it should be – adding a satisfying, cathartic edge. It is classic indie pop: rousing and euphoric.

‘Always You’ in contrast has a country twang – in a deeply satisfying way – a lap steel guitar providing a sinuous undercurrent and Mitchell’s voice aching with loss and regret. The result is something statuesque and ethereal: again lifted skywards by the vocals and haunting, layered choirs in the distance.

We’ve already met third track, ‘Concrete Heart’ – reviewed here last month. It’s a scaling, jangling pop anthem tipping its hat to The Byrds with a rollicking, pulse-quickening pace and plucking, slamming guitars that both jangle with a twelve-string brush stroke and riffs with a rougher edge:

‘I’ll Get Over You Somehow’ gently increases the pace – a sixties-tinged jangle pop explosion that glides and swoops with a sparkle, its lyrics imbued with optimism and stoicism. It’s followed by ‘Excuses’ – another bubbling track driven by the lush guitar attack and the gently, indelible melody with a wailing harmonica and harmonies. There is almost a fifties doo-wop rhythm permeating the track.

The folk inflection rises to the fore in ‘I Don’t Wanna Do Anything (Without You)’ – a deeply romantic and yearning track. Bob Dylan meeting Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen at the local diner. The lilting piano serves to add that air of melancholia and Mitchell’s voice is a velvet glove covering rough-hewed farmer’s hands: soft to the senses but with a steely and gnarled frame underneath.

There is no doubt that the clear and addictive thread throughout the album is the melancholic vocals – ‘Bad Mood’ is an effusive apology for bad behaviour cloaked in an air of regret.

‘Luxury Car’ has mountain-range high harmonies and a interplay between piano and guitar and a sense of anxiety – I don’t know who I am any more. ‘Falling’ is a return to the jangly indie pop – fast paced and a frenetic percussion and celestial choruses. Mitchell prowess at his craft shines through ‘Fits & Starts’ – a fast flowing sparkling track that would fit in the same gene pool as anything by Crowded House.

The album leaves us with the ethereal ‘End of The Day: a poised and elegant track that looks forward to the uncertainties of the future with a deep sense of poignancy and emotion.

Bob Evans has an ear for delicate and uplifting melodies that are buoyed by crystalline guitars and lush, rich instrumentation. As a result, Tomorrowland is a triumph, fusing an indelible songwriting craft with a deeply profound pop sensibility. Out now through Due Process, you can download/stream ‘Tomorrowland’ here.

Bob Evans has announced an Austrlaia-wide tour commencing in June – details and tickets available below:

HU 03 JUN | KINGSCLIFF BEACH HOTEL, KINGSCLIFF NSW (18+)
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
FRI 04 JUN | BLACK BEAR LODGE, BRISBANE QLD (18+)
Tickets available from www.eventbrite.com.au
SAT 05 JUN | VILLA NOOSA, NOOSAVILLE QLD (18+)
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
FRI 11 JUN | GRACE EMILY HOTEL, ADELAIDE SA (18+)
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
SAT 12 JUN | THE ROSEMOUNT HOTEL, PERTH WA (18+)
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
SUN 13 JUN | THE RIVER, MARGARET RIVER WA (18+)
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
WED 16 JUN| HERITAGE HOTEL, BULLI NSW (18+)
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
THU 17 JUN | LIZOTTE’S, NEWCASTLE NSW (18+)
Tickets available from www.lizottes.com.au
FRI 18 JUN | CAMELOT LOUNGE, SYDNEY NSW (18+)
Tickets available from www.stickytickets.com.au
SAT 19 JUN | FROST & FIRE FESTIVAL, FORBES NSW (All Ages)
Tickets available from www.123tix.com.au | 1300 001 238
SUN 20 JUN  | THE BRASS MONKEY, CRONULLA NSW (18+)
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
THU 24 JUN | SOOKI LOUNGE, BELGRAVE VIC (18+)
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
FRI 25 JUN | BRIDGE HOTEL, CASTLEMAINE VIC (18+)
Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets
SAT 26 JUN | NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB, NORTHCOTE VIC (18+)
Tickets available from www.eventbrite.com.au

Feature Photograph: Tajette O’Halloran