UK electro-wave artist Richard Evans releases new 3-track ‘Dream of the World’ EP and video
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(Picture by SJ Manns) Manchester-based synthwave artist Richard Evans is back with a new retro-futuristic EP (and video) “Dream of the World”, out tomorrow via Cold Star Media. Recorded at Cold Star Studios in July 2023, the title track is about remaining positive even in the darkest times.
This 3-track EP, out tomorrow and available via Bandcamp as well, follows Evans’ 2022 debut record “Sentinel”, an electro-pop concept album exploring micro-plastics, gene editing, stardust, technogenic disasters, human evolution, among other themes.
Also included are the tracks “2084” (about those who deny science and convince others of a different reality) and “Motherlode”, a previously unreleased track, recorded during the “Sentinel” sessions in 2021.
Here’s the video for the title track.
“‘Dream Of The World’ is a call to action in the face of an unrelenting climate crisis and, on a personal level, it reflects on a health situation that affected me in late 2022. I was diagnosed with Miller Fisher Syndrome, a rare auto-immune disorder that impacts around one in a million people each year and is a variant of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. I found parallels between the life-threatening aspects of the climate crisis and a condition which decimated nearly all of my body’s functions,” says Richard Evans.
“I literally woke up one morning in the midst of losing all muscle control. Over the course of a single day, I became unable to open my eyes, to sit, stand or walk, even to eat or swallow food. I was hospitalised for a month and for the first 10 days of this stay, there was a real risk of respiratory failure. Alongside a treatment plan, I kept going with positive visualisations, mentally depicting future times when I would be well again. If nothing else, this practice helped me find the strength to endure the most challenging experience of my life.”
Evans adds, “Once I was released from hospital, music became an important part of my recovery – learning to sing and play keyboards again helped me regain control of my arms, hands and facial muscles. For a long time I had double vision and didn’t have the concentration to work on a computer. However I could play piano for short periods and was able to resume some vocal work after a couple of months. This phase created an unexpected change in my writing process, which previously was built around riffs and sequences developed on a computer. ‘Dream Of The World’ was composed entirely with piano and voice.”
A British-Irish electronic musician, writer and digital media artist, Evans was previously keyboardist in UK cult band James, with whom he also co-wrote and recorded material. Previous to that, he was also guitarist and songwriter for St. Vitus Dancers.
On Thursday, November 23, Richard will perform extracts from “Sentinel” at the Prism Winter Festival at Waterside, Sale, Manchester. Recordings of the live performance will then feature throughout the festival on November 24 and 25. This first outdoor presentation of “Sentinel” involves the visuals being projected onto the exterior of the Waterside building.
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