Combining strong writing with musical unpredictability, the collection is Rowan’s most astute to date.   

‘5 Golden Greats’ is the delightful new collection from Rowan and Friends, a tight set of songs showing York songwriter Rowan Evans at the top of his game. Hiding behind a joyous cover from Harry Clowes that toys with the tradition of Country & Western artwork, these five songs capture Evans’ stylistic adaptability, in keeping with his constantly evolving discography.

A fixture on the York live scene, those who have seen him live will be familiar with his ability to flit between styles, at turns evoking the likes of The Magnetic Fields, Parquet Courts and Silver Jews. Opener ‘Skeldergate’ is a wonderful anti-tribute to the city, driven by a soaring mandolin. Evans conveys the tune’s spirit in a delivery that feels downtrodden but also liberated, beyond the point of caring. “The most miserable street in York” never sounded so appealing.

‘Stop Talking About Heaven’ slows things down in a haze of warm bedroom synth, Evans takes on the voice of a beleaguered parent on a long car journey, imploring their child to stop asking big, difficult questions. “It’s not something I’ve thought about in years, in fact I try very hard not to,” they reason, inviting the listener to examine a collective evasion of these matters. The production and use of negatives and double negatives throughout builds a sense of suppression, a mood of unease compounded by the strange off-key metallic sound that punctuates the melodic chorus.

Evans’ work gives the feeling of constant experimentation. Even where individual songs seem relatively straightforward, their contrast against the previous track reminds the listener that each piece pushes the artist into slightly unfamiliar territory. On this record of contrasts, the anxiously dreamy ‘Stop Talking About Heaven’ rolls into the gentler, domestic ‘Yesterday Never Comes,’ which lilts along with a verse melody that has the fluttering charm of early Belle and Sebastian. This predominantly acoustic collection coming months after the heavier set of singles, ‘Scrapheap Man’ and ‘Hammer, Jigsaw, Screwdriver’ is a show of uncommon versatility. Evans has always had a keen eye for the song form, and how to twist it, as his earlier ‘A Song’ collection showed most forthrightly.

‘Medieval Song’ is perhaps the closest to the heavier hits released at the start of this year, though it still rests on a predominantly acoustic arrangement. The stomping rhythm anchors our medieval protagonist as we watch him “Swing my sword around my head.” Reminiscent of The Shifters’ brilliant ‘Medieval Kicks,’ it negates nuance with each verse concluding in said sword-swinging. It is a cathartic moment on what is otherwise a thoroughly considered set of songs, which in itself is a valuable mood to capture. This track sets up a more intimate closer, ‘Damage Done is Damage Done’ related by the medievalism of its a capella folk form. Invigorated by an ingeniously deployed vocoder backup vocal, it speaks of a confidence in deploying traditional song forms and finds contemporaneity with the current folk revival sweeping Britain’s underground scene. Though the title ‘Five Golden Greats’ is obviously tongue-in-cheek, this collection certainly has a great deal confidence. As it darts between musical ideas, brings a coherence to Evans’ range of influences, while the balance of satisfying instrumentation and discordant experiment speaks of his experience producing recorded material. Rowan and Friends tour the UK this month, starting in York tomorrow as they enter into a truly exciting phase, hitting that sweet spot between writerly perfectness and artful unpredictability.