Eve Goodman is a singer song writer who has been on my radar for a number of years with the release of a number of beautiful singles and two EP’s Low Sun (2017) and Wave Upon Wave (2021). If you have yet to hear any of those releases please do so now and be prepared for your world to be bought to a standstill as your wrap your ears around those timeless melodies and vocals. Once you have fallen in love with those early releases you will be more than ready to dive into this perfect debut album Summer Sun, Winter Trees. Although you don’t have to listen to the releases in chronological order, you can of course go straight to the album, then discover the previous releases but what is non negotiable is the fact that you all must listen and fall in love with the music of Eve Goodman, she truly is a generational talent that needs to be adored by everyone.
Summer Sun, Winter Trees is a deeply moving album that finds Eve singing about the loss of her father to suicide. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for Eve, to lose her father in this way and I am sure everyone listening to this album will be sending a lot of empathy and love towards Eve. What Eve has done is use songwriting and music to try and make sense of this tragedy, to reflect on life and look for ways to keep going during difficult times. Eve has poured her heart and soul in to every song we hear on this album, there are times of intense vulnerability which has hopefully allowed Eve to heal whilst reflecting on what she has been through during the recording of these songs.
The album opens with the title track, an eight minute opener with some gentle finger picking guitar and melodies that will swirl around your head. As for the lyrics there are so many that we can draw upon, lyrics of love and grief, lyrics that will provide comfort for anyone who has experienced loss “I’m not ready to lose you / To a force that abused you” Eve has captured those feelings when we lose someone and looking out at the world carrying on around us and we are not ready to be part of that just yet “The seasons change, the world is moving / Feels like a race I am losing / They carry on but I’ll sit here on my own / With winter’s son.
Burn is a captivating folk song which is very gentle and soothing, there is no one listening to this who will not find themselves in a place of peace and introspection whilst listening to this song. Why? Is another incredibly powerful song. Eve’s vocals and the music combine in such an awe-inspiring way that will leave everyone hanging on to every sound you hear and not wanting this song to end. That Day is one of those special songs that needs to be heard by everyone in the world, it is songwriting at its very best. The guitar parts bring sunshine to the world, the lyrics have come from deep within Eve’s heart which must have been so hard for her to do but by doing so she has made a difference to the lives of everyone that hears this song “Yes, there are days when I think of joining you / Not in that way, not from that place / One of those days when I’m old and grey / On my final day will you give it all away? “
Pelter is the Welsh language song on the album and is one that will leave you mesmerized by the beauty of the Welsh language. You don’t have to be able to speak the language to get lost in the wonderful world this song creates for us.
Jay Feather sees Eve looking for reminders of her dad. This is again relatable to us all, we all look for things that are left behind when people leave us. Looking for places to go to to remember our loved ones and Eve has captured all of this and more in this beautiful song “When I walk alone you are the ground beneath my feet / You’re the canopy and the fallen tree / The sound of the woodpecker”. Throughout this song Eve reminds us all of the importance of slowing down, having places to retreat to and to reconnect with nature.
Alive captures those feelings of being still alive, how despite tragedies life goes on. Grief is not something we ever get over we just learn to live with it. “This is how it is / This is how I have chosen to live / My feet are moving slow / And my mind is going to where I need to go.” Continuing to live life is also the theme in Pick Up All the Pieces “Pick up all the pieces of the life that you let go / Here it comes and here it goes / I’m getting good at letting go”. These lyrics are underpinned by some very captivating instrumentation that will certainly leave a mark on you . Quiet Revolution brings the album to a close with yet more perfect vocals, melodies and lyrics that ensure we will be reminded to come back to this album over and over again, as Eve leaves us thinking about how we may sing different songs, but we can find common ground, we share the same sky and we can continue to live and make change “It’s a quiet revolution / It’s a longing for change.
The final thing we hear on the album is the radio edit of Summer Sun, Winter Trees just to further remind us of the genius within this song, and hopefully all the radio stations will pick up on the genius of this song and get it playlisted now.
My final thoughts to share about Summer Sun, Winter Trees is genuinely a big heartfelt thanks to Eve Goodman for sharing these personal songs with the world. This could not have been easy for Eve to do so but her creativity, her vulnerability, her honesty will hopefully show us all that it is ok to be vulnerable, we must not keep our feelings deeply buried within it is important to share with others. Get yourself a copy of this album now, and if you are yet to finalise your end of year charts make sure you find space to include this beautiful album.
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