EVOKE stalks the self's shadows in "CRYPTID"

EVOKE is especially good at making the uncanny seem all too familiar, something they prove once again with "CRYPTID," the band's latest single. The second single from the upcoming "CRYPTID EP," the song is a vapor of dark humor, sharpened verses, and extensive self-production. With "CRYPTID," Evoke is creating a universe where monsters serve as allegorical mirrors and music acts as palliative care.

The first time you hear "CRYPTID," it feels as though you have stepped into an anthropomorphized foggy forest where you might actually run into the myths of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster head-on. But, even still, the monsters here are real, and human; they are addiction, and the struggle of mental health, and the thicket of queer identity. Evoke isn't afraid to dive into these heavy topics. But no, they wrap them in a tongue-in-cheek metaphor as witty as it is cathartic. It's an openness in every line, every beat that shows just how moving vulnerability can be!

And then the production is self-made in itself, and it lends the song this really natural, kind of rarity in it that you haven't heard from other artists. Think Aesop Rock's inward-turning density and Jon Bellion's genre-hopping adventurousness, peppered with Twenty One Pilots' emotional friction. From marinating in the lovingly composed sonic landscapes to absorbing every detail from every lyric, Evoke is clearly an artist with an uncanny mastery of their medium.

And in true collector and physical-media fetishist fashion, it's accompanied by a limited pressing of the album on cassette, which can be viewed on Bandcamp, giving "CRYPTID" a physical, old-fashioned edge. But even in its digital incarnation, the track's dark wit, layered production, and human complexity come through loud and clear. IF this single is any indication, the upcoming album cycle will be a bold, emotionally complex journey that no one will want to miss.

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