It’s only been four years since Tom Grennan first appeared on Chase and Status’ ‘All Goes Wrong’, but since then the Bedford-born singer songwriter has been hard at work. Refining a trademark blend of gospel-infused indie pop, sophomore effort Evering Road is at its best at its most energetic, but unfortunately suffers from a bloated runtime and too many stodgy piano ballads.
Grennan kicks off with back-to-back standouts ‘If Only’ and ‘Something Better’. The former being pulled together by tight string and brass arrangements, the latter developing his familiar soul with crisp, high-gloss electronics, and a sub-bass that gives the track a surprising sonic depth. It’s impressive these sounds don’t clash.
Here however, Evering Road dips in quality. In ‘Little Bit of Love’, Grennan doesn’t quite fully commit to a slowed pace, resulting in a track which feels like a breather even though it’s actually quite busy. Piano-led numbers like ‘It Hurts’ and ‘I Don’t Need A Reason’ keep cropping up and ultimately weigh the record down with Adele-like melodrama. Grennan’s vocals work when his instrumentals are equally as impassioned, but can sound quite strained during softer moments.
Punctuating these are deeper dives into Grennan’s newfound overtly pop-oriented direction. Breaking through a run up of stale tracks, the hook in ‘Never Be A Right Time’ sharply demonstrates how reliant some of these songs are on strong melody. While its chorus does begin to grate, ‘This Is The Place’ is backgrounded by some tense ambient guitar work. Old timey, smoky vocals and futuristic, punchy beats cease to be cliches when combined in the way they are on tracks like ‘Oh Please’, instead Grennan takes snapshots of recognisable styles and presents them in new contexts.
‘Love Has Different Ways to Say Goodbye’ brings out a warm rhythm guitar tone evocative of Frank-era Amy Winehouse. It’s the only slow number on the record that really works. Yet it’s out of place as a closer, providing a brief glimpse of a better record had it replaced some of Evering Road’s earlier ballads.
There’s no getting around that this thing is 14 tracks long (16 if you’re listening to the deluxe version) and there’s a lot of filler here for something this drawn out. Released during a boom in top-tier British pop music, Evering Road somehow needs both more energy and more restraint to realise its potential.
