SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CHANCE PEÑA – EVER-SHIFTING, CONTINUAL BLOSSOMING

CHANCE PEÑA
EVER-SHIFTING, CONTINUAL BLOSSOMING
ONErpm

It is hard to believe that Ever-Shifting, Continual Blossoming is the debut album for Chance Peña. The album is overflowing with confidence and strong songs. He may have gotten his start with The Voice, but since his debut as a singer in 2015, Peña has found his own voice and style. And when listening to the album, this does not sound like a 24-yr-old’s debut. The album has the sound of an artist who has been around for a very long time and draws upon a lot of different influences.

It is important to note that on Ever-Shifting, Continual Blossoming Peña is first and foremost a songwriter. Of course, he sings the songs he writes or co-writes, but this album seems to be showcasing his talent as a writer. Peña is developing his own writing style and skill, and this is evident throughout this album. It is hard to place the album in one genre, but country folk comes as close as anything, but that doesn’t do justice to the album as a whole “Whiskey Angel”, for example takes its cue from country blues and the recording of the song certainly backs up that opinion of the song. “i am not who i was” is much more stripped-down acoustic folk, not unlike early Bob Dylan.

And the recording of the album is also very interesting. Ever-Shifting, Continual Blossoming is lo-fi, and it is the perfect sound for the music. Peña uses this production technique well and does not overuse it. It is simply a stool to accentuate the music, and it is a very smart way to present the music. The sound of the album is very consistent and cohesive. And it has the sound of an album that should not be streamed, but rather on vinyl. It requires the warmth that only vinyl can bring.

Again, like Dylan, Peña also writes some very funny and scathing lyrics. Yes, there are the love songs, but songs like “The Art Of Putting People In Their Place” feature such great lines as “Disguise yourself/Get out of your headop/Hope nobody knows who you are inside.” It is not really what one expects from this artist, but again, it works, perhaps it works even better because it is not expected. Whereas a song like “The Mountain Is You” is much more a song about self-doubt and the effects it can have on a person “I don’t know what it is that I’m climbing to/I hear your words in my head you said ‘the mountain is you’.” This is, again, not expected from Peña.

Ever-Shifting, Continual Blossoming is an impressive debut from a very talent artist.

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