It was New Years Eve 2022, the night before Sam Evian started recording Plunge, his fourth LP, now set for release on Flying Cloud Recordings via Thirty Tigers – his first album on his new imprint. He invited his friends and fellow musicians to his property in the Catskills, where he’d just painstakingly relocated and revamped his Flying Clouds Studios into a new barn on the property, restoring a vintage console and tape deck from 1974. Adrianne Lenker brought a jug of maple syrup from Vermont, Sufjan Stevens set off fireworks in the meadow, and at midnight, the group of friends cold-plunged into a nearby creek as it started snowing.

The next day, the Plunge sessions began, and the album was tracked in the early winter months of 2023 over a 10-day period. Joined by a group of his closest friends and collaborators (including Liam Kazar, Sean Mullins, El Kempner of Palehound and Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief), the young artist / producer set out with a wide-open approach. “No-one knew the songs or what the plan was. We kept it loose and fun. This was the spirit of the sessions. No headphones, no playback, minimal overdubs, or bleed. Fast and loose.”

The result is Evian’s best album to date: a cathartic rock record that melds power pop, iridescent guitar, raucous psychedelia, and Sam’s now sought-after grooves. The music is both fresh and familiar, sonically inspired by his penchant for early 70s production and creatively propelled by the free-spirited process depicted in the Beatles documentary Get Back, as well as his urge to let go. Hypnotic opener “Wild Days” is an uplifting overture centered around a pulsing rhythm section and a guitar solo designed for the open road, while “Jacket” opens with a tight guitar riff, Baroque pop elements and a strong nod to the Beatles. “Rollin In” is a psychedelic-infused blissed-out masterpiece, peppered with saxophone and Rhodes, both played by Sam.

The unbridled, “Why Does It Take So Long,” features Lenker’s wild guitar solo, while “Another Way” features El Kempner of Palehound on guitar. “Stay,” is the Gram Parsons / John Lennon session we didn’t know we needed, while “Freakz” is an irreverent, funked-out album curveball, designed for a good time. And that’s just a taste of what Evian has cooked up here.

Plunge is Evian’s first release on his own imprint, Flying Cloud Recordings, the new imprint of his Catskills-based studio. In 2017 Sam Evian decamped to the Catskills alongside his partner Hannah Cohen and their dog, Jan, creating an immersive recording experience, Flying Cloud Studios, tucked away in the mountains of upstate New York. Evian (née Sam Owens) has hosted/produced/engineered a slew of artists in his home studio including Big Thief (Grammy-nominated for Certainty), Palehound, Kate Bollinger, Blonde Redhead, Helena Deland and more. Plunge is his fourth LP and first partnered with Thirty Tigers. Prior to Plunge, Evian has released three LPS; Premium (2016), You, Forever (2018), and Time to Melt (2021), as well as a handful of singles.