Stereo Embers The Podcast 0295: Philip Stevenson (Carnival Of Souls, Quinine)

“A Complete History Of Dreams”

Alright, so Philip Stevenson has made some of my favorite albums of all time. I first heard his band Carnival Of Souls when I was 19 and that album, which is called Flop, is in my top ten of all time. Stevenson is one of the most consistent, thrilling and rousing singer songwriters out there and yeah, a lot of critics compared him to Westerberg or Elliott Smith and to be fair, those comparisons are not off the mark. But let’s not stop there. Stevenson is a songwriter of breathtaking talent—his compositions range from snarling rockers to ragged waltzes and like a great painter, each of his numbers have texture and nuance that unfold layer after layer with each repeated listen. Stevenson played in Quinine after Carnival of Souls broke up and after that band called it a day, he started putting out staggeringly great solo albums one after the other. From Starless to Azalea, Stevenson’s work aches with longing, rings with precision and shines with night-kissed melodies and soaring choruses. His new three disc set A Complete History Of Dreams is a powerful triptych of windswept numbers like High For The Weekend, fuzzy rockers like Rachel I’m Sorry About Your eyes and the endlessly lovely Everybody’s An Ocean which will make you feel like being lost at sea is about the most beautiful thing the world can offer. Of the set, Stevenson says, “The last few years for everyone were like a bad dream—we all had to turn them into art in order to adore them…”

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