If
Evolve
feels slightly familiar upon its first spin, there's a reason for that. It's not just that
Phish
road-tested the lion's share of the tunes on their 16th studio album before heading into the Barn with longtime associate
Bryce Goggin
and
Sigma Oasis
helmer
Vance Powell
sharing producing credits. Many of the songs were first aired on solo albums by
Trey Anastasio
: three tunes appeared on his 2020 solo set
Lonely Trip
, while two others first aired on his 2022 album
Mercy
, and "Life Saving Gun" showed up on
January
, a 2023 collaboration between
Trey
Page McConnell
. The repetition was quite deliberate.
wanted to hit the ground running in the Barn, to cut an album quickly, so the group avoided their tendency of getting lost in the studio weeds. Treating the sessions for
as something like an extended live gig -- the entire record was cut in less than a week -- did the trick.
sound lively and boisterous right out of the gate, tearing through "Hey Stranger" with glee and gliding into the loose-limbed funk of "Oblivion" with casual flair. They maintain these high spirits as
winds its way toward "Lonely Trip," a lovely ballad that closes out the first section of the record. At that point,
has the momentum of a concert, generating kinetic energy that propels it forward. Things shift once "Life Saving Gun" kicks off the second half. Expanded from its original
incarnation, the song opens up a side where
amble and ramble, stopping for a goofy number co-written by
Mike Gordon
-- the only original from him here; the rest of the record bears
Anastasio
credits, along with a few collaborators -- and taking an oddly engaging detour on the breezy "Valdese," which almost has a rockabilly bop to its beat. All the performances on the second side of
echo the sinewy swing of its first half; the difference is, this section of the record has an off-kilter pace that confirms this is a record, not a concert, a shift that hits a little harder after the fetching ease of the first side. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine