Album Review: Evermore - Follow The Sun

It's hard to believe it's album number four from New Zealand sibling trio Evermore. What began as an unexpectedly successful borderline indie/commercial breakout with their 2004 debut, Dreams, quickly petered out to become not much more than a storm in a rubbish cup of tea, especially following their far-removed-from 2009 release, Truth Of The World: Welcome To The Show. Follow The Sun sees the brothers Hume reclaim some of that initial, fresh vigour and daring, but for the most part it falls pretty short of the mark thanks to some heavy-handed and largely unnecessary production work.

Opening track, Shines On Everyone, is a prime example. Singer Jon Hume has always had that pleasant mid-range pout, but for some reason the wings on these lovely moments are clipped, leaping from nice and natural to tuned and glossy when he hits the upper register. It should be a trifling gripe but it's bloody obvious, scattered throughout We Will Meet Again, a pretty guitar noodler with textural string synths and one of the most organic-sounding tracks on offer here. It's jarring to say the least. That schmick gloss is slathered on, more so early on in lead single, Follow The Sun, and the bombastic '80s beat-ridden Run Away. Then young Hume sees fit to throw in some obligatory “Yeah yeah yeahs” on A World Without You and cringe-worthy falsetto on Hero. There are some truly nice, albeit, brief moments that hark back to the naïve, optimistic Evermore of old, but honestly, if you have to dig for these little moments of glory then it says it all, really.