It’s a tricky thing in this day-and-age to have an original sound. Inevitably anything someone in the music community makes will consciously or unconsciously bear some resemblance to a preceding album or work of art – these days harkening back to the glory days of the 80s when MTV music videos and talent from across the pond was in full swing. One band specializing in indie rock seems to be successfully balancing said inspiration with a post-modern sort of delicacy, marrying strengths with strengths. This band is none other than the aptly titled Everything but the Everything, ironically seeming to cover everything when it comes to ensuring their musical compositions are solid, intelligent, and thoroughly entertaining pieces of work for the enlightened listener.
Instagram: https://instagram.com/izzythegent
The band clearly isn’t interested in a typical, corporate image. This is evidenced by their complete creative control over the production and packaging of their work, having self-released and self-distributed all of their songs for the past year and a half. On the band’s official Spotify page, there presently isn’t an album but rather an assembled number of tracks on a ‘Popular’ playlist, in effect displaying in full and present view the band’s embracing of atypical and personable presentation and slightly contrarian nature.
All of the distribution of their work in the preceding year was by way of CD singles, the band seemingly less interested in providing sonic coherence and more in having the listener enjoy each song as an individualistic and standalone experience. This also highlights the band’s frequent collaborations with other noteworthy independent talent, many of which sign on to vocalist positions for each of the songs. Particular highlights of these collaborations include the track ‘Jump’ featuring Sophia Prise and ‘Can’t Allow’ featuring Tobias Hawkins. Both tracks owe enormous debt to the British Invasion movement of the Reagan era, where bands such as Simple Minds, A-Ha, The Fixx, and Modern English reigned supreme.
Another aspect to Everything but the Everything’s clear 80s influence is their eschewing of perfectly polished, crystal-clear sound design and sound mixing of their songs. The band seems more interested in evoking clear emotional responses than ensuring there are no blips or bumps in the recording sessions. Indeed, part of the nerdy joy a seasoned listener can partake in is listening to the band’s work by way of headphones or earbuds – absorbing every time the guitar perfectly slips off-tune, the piano is off-key, or an unaccounted sound or vocalization is heard from one of the band members. Such flaws are additions to the experience, not hindrances. As a result, there’s a sense of less space between the listener and the artist, in effect making the tracks feel almost personal. The result is something as immersive as it is accessible, a rare combination in today’s times.
Score 9/10
Troy Johnston