Piano-pop songwriter Mike Evin is sharing an earnest and hopeful new album by the name of Something Stirs When You Sing, featuring a collection of songs whose characters long to find joy and feel alive. “That’s always been my intention every time I sit down at the piano,” Mike details. “Singing and playing with just my piano for accompaniment is the most immediate way I feel a connection with the songs. This is the first time I’ve made an album with that approach as the foundation.”
Working with producer Chris Stringer (Rose Cousins, Abigail Lapell), Evin and Stringer prioritized emotion and vibe over precision and perfection, handpicking from a batch of about 120 songs, mostly written during the early pandemic years.
The album’s focus track, “Outside With A Guitar,” was inspired by the community of musicians that Evin was a part of led by Ken Whiteley who performed on Toronto’s Roxton Road during that time. Every night for almost two years, they made music outside. The jovial song took root one night after seeing the abandon with which one of the street’s couples sang a song. It alludes to difficult times but is ultimately about the catharsis of making music.
Stream “Outside With A Guitar”here : https://music.mikeevin.com/sswys
Something Stirs When You Sing is Mike’s seventh album and may be his most immediate work to date. Its stripped-down nature brings the hallmarks of Evin’s timeless ‘old school pop’ music into fine focus – poignant storytelling, propulsive piano playing, conversational singing, rich harmonic movement and adventurous melodies that live inside you.