EVERMORE – TRUTH OF THE WORLD (Welcome to the Show)

If one were to pick the most startling change in direction for a band of late, it would be this record from Evermore. Here is a chameleon-like shift in style and tone that is highly intriguing, albeit a bit hard to believe. Taking a look at the band in their current round of press shots is an eye-opener: gone are the pleasantly tousled and homely New-Zealander heartthrobs; now we have a troup of lads with platinum hair, tight leathers, eyeliner and top hats. And the sound? Well, it’s theatrical to say the least. It seems that singer/songwriter Jon Hume has ripped a bigger page out of the book of Queen’s News of the World as this album twists and winds its way through a circus of material. It leaps from the alarmingly chart-wave sound of single Between The Lines, its pumping synthesizers and wailing vocalisations sounding like Kenny Loggins via Death Cab For Cutie; to the grandiose piano-rock of The Lonely Ones delving into the highly melodramatic. There’s a lot of moogs and drum machines colouring their shift into theatrical pop, and the Hume brothers’ harmonies are as shining and full as ever. It’s a strangely enticing blend, produced with blistering 1980’s hotness, which ensures their pop sounds get a gutsy platform. One must tip the hat to the boys for consciously trying something out of their comfort zone; and in doing so, they’ve delivered a surprisingly confident record, definitely of its time.

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