Over the last forty years, Phish has been the pinnacle of live performances, bringing millions together with such musical force that a 25-minute song flits by in a blink. However, although Phish have toured relentlessly, cultivating such acclaim that they entered legend decades ago, the band has found the time to produce the sixteenth studio album of their storied history, Evolve.
The album, the band’s first studio creation since 2020’s Sigma Oasis, contains twelve tracks that, for the most part, have been polished through numerous live performances over the last several years. Two of the tracks, however, “Valdese” and “Human Nature,” have not yet had the honor of being performed and completely transformed by a live show. Created at the band’s Barn studio in Vermont, the record pits familiar producers Bryce Goggin and Vance Powell with the always jammin’ Trey Anastasio (guitar/vocals), Page McConnell (keyboards), Mike Gordon (bassist), and Jon Fishman (drums). This all-in mind, Evolve arrived via Jemp Records on July 12, 2024 with plenty of intrigue surrounding it.
Opening with “Hey Stranger,” a track that was first recorded for the 2022 Anastasio solo album, Mercy, Phish immediately hops into a groove that ribbons along before catching a little late life and freshness with a communal riff that leads it out. The album’s title track is born with a ray of sunshine noodles from Anastasio’s guitar and the velvety-poetry his voice creates, rising into a current of tranquility reminiscent of warm days spent in the cool grass.
This considered, with what the album lacks in lyrical intensity and at times, purpose, the emotional journey, like all Phish products, is not one that will pass lightly. “A Wave of New Hope,” a hard-battling, intensely churning piece that is danced along by the superb keyboard work of McConnell, which truly sets this track as the achievement of the record; complete with an Anastasio riff that for a split second brings you to a sunset at the Gorge with 50,000 people that you have never met, madly taking in the musical frenzy.
As the record progresses, you will be able to imagine for yourself the fantastic directions that the group will pursue during their live acts; but with “Pillow Jets” they have tailored beautifully a never-ending avenue of possibilities (already proven at multiple live shows in the past) that new fans of the band will salivate waiting to experience. Though at times the delicate nature of the record may give it an appearance of being bogged down, the chemistry and creative brilliance of this unbelievably tight outfit illuminates it almost immediately with a twist or turn that is for lack of better terminology, expectedly-unexpected.
Closing with “Mercy,” a calm and rolling bit of therapy that shows off Anastasio’s impressive vocal ability, as well as the band’s ability to harmonize and pull a simple, quiet piece such as this one to an entirely different emotional and musical place. The song is slow, yes, but it yearns with the wants and needs of a plant without water, calmly working to bring all of us to a better place.
With Evolve, you do not obviously receive the ever-unfolding brilliance of the band’s live chops, but you are reminded that magical nights are on the horizon. The band will continue to mold and bend and melt and twist and grind and weave these tracks into experiences that could, without proper protection, end in cranial ejection, or, all jokes aside, into unforgettable moments of happiness that we would all do well to experience. They may have powered on over four decades now, but the tank is certainly not empty for Phish. That is why Cryptic Rock gives Evolve 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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