Credits:

Sam Evian

Description:

With his fourth album, Sam Evian (producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and Celestial Shore founder Sam Owens) dials back some of the warped, woozy artifice that marked 2021s Time to Melt. That album was a political-minded one that looked to artists including Marvin Gaye for conceptual inspiration. While still incorporating spongy sounds and touches of psychedelia, the follow-up, Plunge, turns its attention to themes of family, home, and related complexities. Still steeped in vintage instruments and a collaborative spirit — Liam Kazar, Palehounds El Kempner, Big Thiefs Adrianne Lenker, and longtime partner Hannah Cohen are among over a dozen contributors here — its breezy mix of radio-friendly, late-60s and 70s singer/songwriter, psychedelic, and power pop brings it closer in line with cited inspirations like the Beatles, solo George Harrison, and Harry Nilsson, among many others. It was