We look forward to a perfect day, a perfect job, a perfect life. Some lives in the hope of a better future, though vague as it is. Some lives in the glorious past, where the best has blurred into the haze of nostalgia. So little we appreciate the present, as if it was already lost in the quest. Evran tunes into that intricate, emotional yet obscure space in his latest album A Perfect Day, bringing 8 haunting songs, emotionally expressing our deepest longing for perfection.

From the title track, “A Perfect Day,” Evran evokes an emotional urgency with a sense of unsettling beauty. Throughout the album, he experiments with the drastic and subtle shifts of timbre in his expressive vocal, piano, and guitar playing, where multi-layered, sensitive textures forge into immersive and poised soundscapes. Songs like “I Miss the Way You Smell in the Summer” and “Birds of Stone” is where his airy falsetto weaves into picturesque soundscapes and takes off in the melancholically captivating melodies.

There’s Radiohead-esque dance of romanticism and melancholia in Evran’s approach to melody and sonic experimentation. Lyrics in “Birds of Stone” and “I Lie Awake at Night and Wait for You” evoke an impressionistic yet profound connection that feels immediate yet hard to describe. His lyrics also give you the urge to write them down on a nice piece of paper with ink pens. They do deserve attentions and some time to pondering upon.

Evran wastes no word and spares no sound unused. His inventive instrumentation and arrangement gives you a real pleasure to dissolve into. Every drop of sonics is tightly coiled into the mood and atmospheres that he aims to achieve. It seems that he’s really good to capture the soul of a piece of music. The way he brings out his music is hard-hitting and impactful. Epic as they are tearjerking. The addition of every single layer gives you goosebumps.

A Perfect Day sees the mysterious beauty of contrast between instruments and songs. At first, the piercing piano feels like drops of cold water on a stone. In the second half of the album, the piano drops into deep water with a sense of nostalgia and timelessness. Evran’s voice is more textural and atmospheric in the first half of the album, but more confrontational, vulnerable and enthusiastic in the second half. “Just Like the End” marks a momentum in the album, while “Danny” sees the warmth and melancholy of his lower register.