It was New Years Eve 2022, the night before Sam Evian started recording Plunge, his fourth LP, now set for release on Flying Cloud Recordings via Thirty Tigers – his first album on his new imprint. He invited his friends and fellow musicians to his property in the Catskills, where he’d just painstakingly relocated and revamped his Flying Clouds Studios into a new barn on the property, restoring a vintage console and tape deck from 1974. Adrianne Lenker brought a jug of maple syrup from Vermont, Sufjan Stevens set off fireworks in the meadow, and at midnight, the group of friends cold-plunged into a nearby creek as it started snowing.

The next day, the Plunge sessions began, and the album was tracked in the early winter months of 2023 over a 10-day period. Joined by a group of his closest friends and collaborators (including Liam Kazar, Sean Mullins, El Kempner of Palehound and Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief), the young artist / producer set out with a wide-open approach. “No-one knew the songs or what the plan was. We kept it loose and fun. This was the spirit of the sessions. No headphones, no playback, minimal overdubs, or bleed. Fast and loose.”

The result is Evian’s best album to date: a cathartic rock record that melds power pop, iridescent guitar, raucous psychedelia, and Sam’s now sought-after grooves. The music is both fresh and familiar, sonically inspired by his penchant for early 70s production and creatively propelled by the free-spirited process depicted in the Beatles documentary Get Back, as well as his urge to let go. Hypnotic opener “Wild Days” is an uplifting overture centered around a pulsing rhythm section and a guitar solo designed for the open road, while “Jacket” opens with a tight guitar riff, Baroque pop elements and a strong nod to the Beatles. “Rollin In” is a psychedelic-infused blissed-out masterpiece, peppered with saxophone and Rhodes, both played by Sam.

The unbridled, “Why Does It Take So Long,” features Lenker’s wild guitar solo, while “Another Way” features El Kempner of Palehound on guitar. “Stay,” is the Gram Parsons / John Lennon session we didn’t know we needed, while “Freakz” is an irreverent, funked-out album curveball, designed for a good time. And that’s just a taste of what Evian has cooked up here.

Plunge is Evian’s first release on his own imprint, Flying Cloud Recordings, the new imprint of his Catskills-based studio. In 2017 Sam Evian decamped to the Catskills alongside his partner Hannah Cohen and their dog, Jan, creating an immersive recording experience, Flying Cloud Studios, tucked away in the mountains of upstate New York. Evian (née Sam Owens) has hosted/produced/engineered a slew of artists in his home studio including Big Thief (Grammy-nominated for Certainty), Palehound, Kate Bollinger, Blonde Redhead, Helena Deland and more. Plunge is his fourth LP and first partnered with Thirty Tigers. Prior to Plunge, Evian has released three LPS; Premium (2016), You, Forever (2018), and Time to Melt (2021), as well as a handful of singles.

Hannah Cohen has arrived home. From the title of her new album to the depth and beauty of the music, the Woodstock, NY-based singer-songwriter’s third album, “Welcome Home,” displays a confidence and comfort with the many creative tools at her disposal. Cohen’s remarkably evocative voice is surrounded by dreamy, swooning incantations, from the rippling ‘This Is Your Life’ and the slow-burning, forthright statement of ‘All I Want,’ to the soul swagger of ‘Get in Line’ and dramatic vocal leaps of ‘Wasting My Time.’ Produced by Sam Evian, the artist began developing the material that became “Welcome Home” in 2017. Taking her time with the songs, she wrapped herself in the fulfilling quiet of a new home, and a new creative partnership that supported finding a clarity in her writing and vocals. Many of the songs were written on an old, nylon-string guitar painted with Hawaiian scenes of beaches and palm trees (which can be heard on ‘This Is Your Life’), that, no matter the final arrangement, gives the songs a lighter touch, a warming glow that suffuses the whole album. Listeners may find echoes of folk and R&B, radiating with vocal-powered pop production, electronic accents, and bursts of pulsing guitar/bass/drums energy. Irresistible echoes of soul enchanters such as Carrie Cleveland (an early touchstone for Cohen and Evian), Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers and their friend and sometime collaborator Nick Hakim blend with the reflective singer/writer forebears such as Carole King.

Born in Egypt, Heba Kadry grew up listening to early 90’s indie shoegaze records whenever she could get her hands on them. After graduating from The American University in Cairo, she got her start in audio by composing jingles at advertising agency J Walter Thompson in Cairo. After a 2 year stint in advertising, she moved to the US to study audio engineering at The Recording Workshop in Ohio.

Next, Heba moved to Houston, Texas, where she accepted a position at SugarHill Recording Studios as recording engineer and studio manager. After a few years in Texas, Heba moved to New York in 2007 to focus on mastering and worked in Manhattan for a number of years until moving to Brooklyn in 2013 where she is now located. She has worked with notable artists such as Björk, Bon Iver, John Cale, Kim Deal, Sufjan Stevens, Slowdive, Beach House, Nicolás Jaar, The Mars Volta, John Maus, Lucy Dacus, Animal Collective, Djo, Hayley Williams, Yaeji, Porches, Future Islands, Battles, Mykki Blanco, Deerhunter, Neon Indian, Big Thief, Alex G, serpentwithfeet, Diamanda Galás, Lightning Bolt and Explosions in the Sky.

Since 2017, Heba has worked with acclaimed electronic artist and award winning film composer Ryuichi Sakamoto on many of his releases including the long awaited remaster of his albums “B2-Unit” and “BTTB” in addition to numerous film scores.

Heba expanded her engineering role when she was handpicked by Björk in 2017 to mix her LP “Utopia” as well as both mixing and mastering her new album “Fossora” in Iceland and at her studio location in Brooklyn in 2022.

When Heba is not in the studio she is most likely spending way too much time obsessing about synth modulars and hanging out with her dog, Eno.

Links to some articles and interviews with Heba here.