Album Review/ Pianist : Sir Evan Wish’s ‘Alone in a Crowd’

Sir Evan Wish is a Canadian pianist and composer who has been honing his craft and curiosity since he was 7. When he plays, it’s just him and the instrument, engrossed in conversation and creative exchange.

You’ll feel the artist’s deep connection and effortless parlance with the instrument when you begin listening to his music. It’s sacred but it’s also one that is cultivated with a fondness and playfulness. For this article, we are exploring the collection, ‘Alone in a Crowd’. It is a ten-track album that reveals the more private and intimate moments. 

‘The Hill’ opens the album. It sets the tone for the rest of the album, introducing the listener to the range of the theme explored by the artist. Celebrating solitude, reflection, while also going into feelings of loneliness and melancholy. With transient moments of music and melody, the artist journeys through all the gradients of the theme. 

Tracks like ‘Silhouette’ and ‘Carousel’ have a similar air and mood. Contemplative with a compelling nostalgia that anchors you to the listening experience. There’s a lot of romantic notions that the artist moves through the album with. Nostalgia is one of them. There are others too. In tracks like ‘(Full) August Moon Love’, ‘Falling Into You’, and ‘(For) Just a Penny’, he brings a plush mood. A warmth and playfulness that you can’t get away from. It circles round every frame and rounds out the feeling continuously. There’s a lot more dynamism to the compositions and emotional activity, as opposed to the lulling melodic atmospheres of the previously mentioned trio. 

‘Alone in a Crowd’ and ‘Fleeting Beauty’ are lithe and explorative. The artist explores a very intimate feeling, one that you can’t really name but you can grasp. There’s use of chromatism to create dimension and beauty within the track. Moments of doting melodies that really shape the theme. The listening experience is marked by the fluid movement of the composition. Seemingly, the artist gives into a slow spontaneity, a steam of consciousness type affair that really opens up the tracks. 

The last two concluding tracks, ‘Sometime Around Midnight’ and ‘I Like Us’ have a deeper resonance. It takes you to a thoughtful plane. Where a feeling daze meets a melodic spiral. These tracks have a way of drawing you in deeper. With hypnotic melodic arrangements and dilated resonance that follow, it keeps taking you deeper. Makes you swirl around in it and immerse in the more subtle sensibilities of the theme. So much so that it is meditative. Listen now!

The album is available for streaming on popular sites like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music! 

You can listen to ‘Alone in a Crowd/ by Sir Evan Wish here -