Everstill is a New York-based alternative rock band that features Sara Aridi (vocals/bass/guitar/keys/synths) and Luca Bertaglia (drums). Aridi is an editor at The New York Times and is a Lebanese-American who grew up in New Jersey, Lebanon and Dubai. Bertaglia is a composer and music teacher who was born in northern Italy. The two met in 2016 while playing in an alt-prog rock band and reconnected in 2020 to form Everstill. Together, the duo brings to life a mixture of grunge, garage rock, indie rock, jazz, metal, folk and more on their debut album Longing. Aridi decided to use her time during the pandemic wisely and these songs which she has been working on for the past seven years while performing as a bassist and guitarist for other bands began to become realized with the help of Bertaglia. Though the band had to collaborate remotely to get these songs off the ground, audiences can see that their hard work paid off with Longing aptly portraying Aridi’s vision and Bertaglia’s take on the percussion.
Longing takes off with “Exposed” where entrancing guitar riffs set the stage here. A drumming beat and some synths provides an atmospheric backdrop. The layers of sounds cast a very airy feel. As Aridi’s vocals softly cascaded in the background, this was a hypnotizing introduction to the band’s sounds. Some bass and a drumming beat drives forward the sounds on “In Your Dreams.” Some guitar riffs also add to the vibes. The sound here had a harsher feel than the opening track. With hard rock, grunge and metal as some of its influences, the guitar solo here felt larger than life, feeding into tons of reverb and distortion. The band really jams out. Eventually, Aridi’s vulnerable vocals give the song new life. The sound of birds chirping fills the vibes towards the start of “Remind Me/Why.” Next, some chord progressions pick up the sounds The music felt serene and peaceful. As right away you are met with Aridi’s clear vocal harmonies, this seemed like a departure from the band’s reverb-drenched and more aggressive and harder rock sound from earlier. At the core of this track is Aridi’s vocals and the guitar. At moments, this sounded like a lullaby. Next, a fuller band vibe draws audiences in with a sound packed with fuzz. Starting off to a melancholic vibe, there was a meandering feel to the music on “Crawling.” Feeling like a slow burn, the music simmers with a slow groove. Aridi’s vocals in the backdrop prove vulnerable and intimate. Packed with atmosphere and feeling, there was a lot of mood to this piece. I thought it took its time in unraveling. Sparse guitar riffs send out a minimalistic feel toward the start of “Proxemics.” A sauntering groove comes from the drums. Once the vocals come in, the band really seems to hit their groove. A lot of times Aridi’s airy vocals reminded me of ’80 bands like Blondie and The Cure. Besides the ‘80s references, there was a wave of alternative and indie rock influences that was very apparent right from the get-go. In the backdrop, the moody sound of bass lines creates some soft riffs on “Dusk. The sound slowly seeps in, growing in mode as the guitars arrive with its melodic pulse. As the percussion adds a livelier element, the sound then grows in groove, embracing a very indie rock feel. This is a pure instrumental interlude. On “Waiting,” shimmering guitars highlight the sounds. This song had some great indie flavors to it, feeling catchier and more expressive than their previous tracks. I greatly enjoyed the combined vocal harmonies. The keys really added to the melodic sounds. Right off the bat, the slow grooving music enters on “Flying.” There was a touch of euphoria to this song as Aridi’s vocals take flight on this closer. The album title Longing captures the themes behind Aridi’s lyrics, “longing in its various forms, be it love, independence, comfort or clarity.” You can see this ache spill out into the music with guitars that will leave you entranced in the intro “Exposed,” moving into more harder rock territory in tracks like “In Your Dreams” and into softer terrain with "Remind Me/Why" and "Waiting." One thing that ties all the songs together is the reverb, which is expertly used to add to the mood and flavors of this album. Feeling very atmospheric and ambient, you can see that darkness and light are among some of the dualities featured here. Others include dream vs. reality, waiting vs. fleeing, etc. Everstill’s use of dichotomies on this record creates a multi-layered and complex approach listeners can really wrap their minds around. I look forward to seeing more great things from the band soon.
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