"Unreserved, extreme evolution", this is a sentence from Kevin Shen's "Evolution" album. However, in fact, I don't want to use evolution to describe Kevin Shen's music and his "evolution" album, because I think that even if Kevin Shen does not evolve, he can present his musical style in a very good posture.
Many people will use "cutting-edge" creators to describe Shen Kevin, which may be because Shen Kevin can only be regarded as a "newcomer" in the Chinese pop music circle, in fact, Shen Kevin has been rolling in the music circle for ten years or more. In fact, before the album "Evolution", Shen Kevin also published an independent solo music album overseas. Therefore, Shen Kevin has a very solid musical foundation, including creation, singing style, which does not need to be questioned, which is not surprising why he launched the three singles "on n' on", "light" and "love" in China at that time Why there was such a high voice, many people must be amazed by his musical expression, especially in the maturity of creation, singing self, production excellence. In addition to these, I think what surprised me most about Kevin Shen was that he could distinguish himself from other singer-songwriters with a very clear degree of recognition.
Of course, Shen Kevin is absolutely modest, even if he does not emphasize lowering his posture, but his attitude towards music is very sincere, judging from the three singles launched earlier, he did not deliberately raise his musical posture (although he has the ability to stand very high), but appeared very affinity, which is also the "distinct recognition" mentioned earlier, especially "on n' on" and "love". Indeed, Shen Kevin's musical works will give people a fresh, relaxed feeling, although many of his works are based on rap, but no matter what the style, his musical intensity will not appear too much, there will not be that complex, complex feeling, this is his difference, this is also very obvious in the new album "evolution" released by Kevin Shen.
In terms of first feelings, the "evolution" album gives me a very familiar and intimate feeling, which stems from the knowledge and understanding of Shen Kevin's musical style, that is, it is very flexible and still maintains the inherent musical temperament of comfort, so even if you do not understand the concept of this album, or even understand what he expresses, you will be overwhelmed by Shen Kevin's creation, arrangement and singing.
Creation is the most intuitive part of Kevin Shin's "Evolution" album. There is no need to peel back the cocoon at all, the arrangement of most of the works on the album itself is not complicated, which highlights the fluency and flexibility of the melodic lines, "on n' on", "love" is so, "find me", "why", and even in the slightly complex arrangement of "chop that", "nomnia", listen carefully, you can feel the melody itself smooth and natural. Regarding The creation of Shen Kevin, it is also particularly important to point out that his creation is not only smooth, but also has no homogeneousness, does not need to rely on the blessing of the arrangement, and there can be a high degree of recognition between the song and the song, and then it can establish a deep impression on the listener at the first time, which is really rare.
Speaking of the arrangement of "evolution", the arrangement of most works is not complicated, and it does not deliberately pursue the stacking of elements and styles, but pays more attention to the creation of the artistic sense of the song and the presentation of the details. It's like the reorganization of synths and guitar rhythms in Find Me, which brings out a dreamy and even a little psychedelic effect, and there is a sense of self-loss. In "Why", which expresses the true self, it is the ensemble of the two main instruments of piano and electronic piano that highlights the sincerity of inner emotions, creating a very pure inner world. The favorite is the retro tone brought out by the fusion of the 808 drum machine with the bass drum, guitar and bass in "Chop That", and the whole musical atmosphere is distinctly experimental. In addition, in "Love", r&b's style is also very special in terms of performance techniques, using guitar, bass, and drums to reflect the rhythm of R&b, jumping out of the sweetness of the traditional sweet R&b style, and using the cold texture of guitar and bass to reduce the concentration of sweetness, mixing into a just right position, it sounds very comfortable. The entire album is arranged by Shen Kevin, which also makes the temperament of the album highly unified, even if there are "chop that", "nomnia" and other works with slightly stronger strength in style will not feel abrupt, but also adjust the sense of listening.
The most important thing about the "evolution" album is the voice presentation of Shen Kevin, which is also the key to the high recognition of this album. Shen Kevin on most of the album of the sound presentation are very affinity, there is no strong aggression, but do not lose personal characteristics, there are very beautiful lips and teeth, there are also very perfect breath sounds, especially in the performance of the singing works, such as "nomnia", "light", "why", etc., completely without any lip and tongue power, the lyrics in the tongue and lips and teeth of a variety of clever kneading, and then "spit out" when the speed of speech is very fast and coherent is not blurred, What comes out is the lightweight version of the cloud-swallowing and foggy version. Of course, this does not mean that The singer Shen Kevin does not have an attitude, there is his attitude and personality in "Chop That" and "Why", especially "Why", for the brewing of emotions, the control of emotions will bring out a sense of sincerity from the heart and release the most authentic side. To say the most comfortable, presumably in the "find me" in the sound state, in the dreamy sense of the arrangement, Shen Kevin's voice is soft and comfortable, the powerful thing is that in such a soft sound state, his expression also loses the "strength", for the treatment of long sentences simply continue to sentence, a breath without ambiguity to express. It can be said that Shen Kevin's singing is confident and unpretentious, and the expression of each song is sent from the heart, bringing the most direct and sincere sense of listening.
Regarding the concept of the "evolution" album, it is actually not as complicated as imagined. The elements of the five elements are more likely to reflect the basic five elements of all things, and the essence of music lies in the basis of the self, and the essential concept of "evolution" is to extend the different themes of dreams, love, search, and hope from the basis of Shen Kevin's self, and finally form a complete self, which is still ingenious in the setting.
Kevin Shin showed his outstanding musical charm as a newcomer, in the "evolution" album. This is a new beginning but not a low starting point, not deliberately flaunting itself, but has established an irreproducible musical personality in the music, which is no longer evolution, it has long been a perfect form.