A gentle record of heart-on-sleeve soul-searching, ‘Evergold’ shines with Joshua Hyslop’s inner light as the singer/songwriter winds his way through ten beautiful, tender folk songs full of warmth, weight, wonderment, and – at the end of it all – hope.

for fans of Iron & Wine, Bright Eyes, José González, Sufjan Stevens

Stream: “Down the Line” – Joshua Hyslop

Each of the songs on this record, either lyrically, melodically or sonically, are trying to point to that deeper untouchable place.

He’s got songs that soothe, stun, and stir the soul, but underneath all of Joshua Hyslop’s new songs lies a heavy, aching heart.

The Canadian singer/songwriter’s sixth studio album finds him at his most intimate, his most vulnerable, and his most exposed as he digs deeper and shares more of himself than ever before, dwelling in a soft space of longing, nostalgia, reflection, and reverie. A gentle record of heart-on-sleeve soul-searching, Evergold shines with Joshua Hyslop’s inner light as he winds his way through ten beautiful, tender folk songs full of warmth, weight, wonderment, and – at the end of it all – hope.

Well high time lingers on

You can feel it in the wind
And though we may be gone
Our paths may cross again

I saw the rising sun glitter in your eyes
If the golden days should come

I’ll see you down the line

Spring is coming up

You can hear it in the fields
As the river rolls along
Oh, how could this be real?

A howl at the moon will catch you by surprise
And the golden days will come
I’ll see you down the line

– “Down the Line,” Joshua Hyslop

Released April 26, 2024 via Nettwerk Music Group, Evergold stays true to its name as a glistening, shimmering seduction. Arriving two years after Joshua Hyslop’s fifth studio album Westward, the singer/songwriter’s sixth full-length effort finds him working together with his dear friend and longtime collaborator John Raham once more.

“We’ve made several records together but we both agreed that this one was a large step forward on many different fronts,” Hyslop tells Atwood Magazine.

“I really wanted to focus on the songwriting [this time around]. That might sound like a no-brainer for a singer/songwriter, but I’m not so sure that it is. I really wanted to try to simultaneously branch out lyrically, melodically, sonically, etc. from what I’d done before. But not at the expense of the song. In other words, not to just do something for the sake of doing it. I wanted to remain true to the heart and soul of each song. I believe we did that.”

“I don’t really compare my albums to one another; I think each one is a snapshot of a time in my life, as horribly cliché as that sounds,” he adds. “Hopefully I’m continuing to grow as a person and as an artist, and so the albums will continually get better, but that’s speaking mainly from a technical standpoint. There is real heart and soul in each of my albums. I can honestly look back at each one and know that, at the time, I gave it everything that I had. This one holds true to that.”

Oh just like that I fall to pieces
Beneath the weight of it all
But now I’ve seen that
there is strength in weakness
It’s not the end of the road

Oh just like that I fall to pieces
Beneath the weight of it all
When you’ve come through that
Then you find a reason
It’s not the end of the road

– “Pieces,” Joshua Hyslop

Some might say we’re stumbling in the dark, but that’s okay; who cares where we are?

Hyslop candidly calls Evergold a nostalgic, unfamiliar, and melancholic album.

The album’s title comes from a journey to capture the essence of these songs – and to a great deal, this music – in a single word. “I wanted to find an English equivalent for the words “Saudade” which is Portuguese, “Sehnsucht” which is German and “Hiraeth” which is Welsh,” Hyslop explains. “They all kind of deal with a feeling of longing or homesickness. But it’s more complicated than that. It’s kind of a nostalgia for a place you haven’t yet been, or a person you haven’t yet met. There are certain common experiences, certain moments in life, that feel like they’re pointing to something very real but as yet unattainable. It’s like you get a little hint of something deeper, something familiar, but you can’t quite touch it. Like when you wake up from a dream that felt incredibly real and important but the more you try to think about it the more it dissipates.”

“Each of the songs on this record, either lyrically, melodically or sonically, are trying to point to that deeper untouchable place. The title, Evergold, is an attempt to sum all of that up.”

I fear what you want from me
What I’d give to see
Who I’d be unafraid
But heartache is in me now
And the whole world somehow
Floats in such a haze

Childhood memories
In the shade of trees
Bathed in golden light
Places I know I’ve been
And I’ve gone back again
But with different eyes

To search for the peace I found
But it’s not with me now
In such heavy days
To hope simply like a child
In this world so wild
Could be our saving grace

Fear’s what it gave to me
But I’ve come to see
That it has no sting
If hope’s underneath it all
And you rise when you fall
That’s everything

Highlights abound on the journey from the album’s heated, heavy opener “Rise” to its calm and cathartic finale, “Supposed to Say.” Memorable moments include the gently rolling “Hills,” the wondrous and hopeful folk reverie “Down the Line,” the breathtakingly bittersweet “Pieces,” and the softly stirring “The Way You Can” – each of which aches in its own light and lilting way.

“Getting to work with John Raham in his studio and with his team is always a highlight,” Hyslop says of his own highlights. “Also, the musicians on this album are out of this world. I pinch myself each time we’re in the studio together. I’m just up in the control room muttering, ‘play it cool… play it cool’ to myself under my breath.” He cites the lyrics to “Wrong Side of Town” and “Rise” as some of his favorites.

Well nobody can reach me

With my head in the clouds

I know I’ll be somebody 

No matter how hard they try to pull me back down
 


Saying you were born on the wrong side of town

Born on the wrong side of town

So quit your daydreaming for crying out loud

You were born on the wrong side of town



And so I’ll pack up my suitcase

And go sing for the crowds

And I hope fortune will find me

So I don’t get lost before I am found

– “Wrong Side of Town,” Joshua Hyslop

Ultimately, Evergold is a deeply intimate record of inner reckoning and reflection channeled into sweetly soothing, soul-stirring folk sound.

Hyslop seems to have unlocked something within himself, and Evergold is the reward of his efforts: A ten song set that aches beautifully from the inside out, compelling us to join the singer/songwriter in his never-ending soul-search.

“I’d love it if it gives them the same sense of wonder and hope that getting to create it gave me,” Hyslop shares. “I’d love it if people put it on and sit with it as an album and go through it song by song. Making something that truly means something to you requires a lot. I feel like the more of yourself you pour into a thing, the more chance it has of standing the test of time. This album encouraged me to keep pouring myself into what I love to do, which is singing and songwriting. I hope that shines through if and when people give it a spin.”

Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside Joshua Hyslop’s Evergold with Atwood Magazine as he takes us track-by-track through the music and lyrics of his sixth studio album!

Evergold is out now via Nettwerk Music Group.

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:: stream/purchase Evergold here ::

:: connect with Joshua Hyslop here ::

Stream: ‘Evergold’ – Joshua Hyslop

:: Inside Evergold ::

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Rise

This was the first song I wrote after my last album had been finished. It really became the impetus behind the whole record. I wanted to try to approach my songwriting from a more personal place and this song sort of set the bar for me in that respect. It’s half looking forward and half looking back and trying to make sense of how those two inform the present.

Overcome

I got to use a friend’s old Epiphone Casino as the main guitar on this song. This was the first time out of all of my records that I’ve used an electric to do some fingerpicking and I loved it. So long as no one’s yelling “Judas” at me from the audience on my next tour, I think I’ll probably do it again.

The Way You Can

We actually recorded two different versions of this song, which was another first for me. I wrote it as a much more uptempo tune, but my producer and friend (not necessarily in that order) John Raham heard it as a much slower and heavier song. We agreed to lay it down both ways and decide on which version would make the cut later. I loved them both but they’re very different songs. We agreed that the “slow” version would be on the physical album and the quicker version would be the streaming single. Somehow wires got crossed and I woke up on release day to the heavy/slow version streaming away. So, if this song really bums you out, hang in there. A faster version may yet still be coming.

Down the Line

This is the song on the album that I worry most egregiously shows its influences right up front. I was aiming for a little bit Bob Dylan, a little bit Nick Drake and a little bit Simon and Garfunkel. I successfully missed each one and landed here. That pretty much sums up most of my work, actually.

When We Come Back Down

This is the only co-write on the album. I flew to Nashville and had the privilege of working with some amazing songwriters. I wrote five songs in five days with five different artists. Stephony Smith and I wrote this song at her home after having a drink and listening to some Tom Waits. None of those other songs have been thrown out and they may show up on future albums but this was the only piece I got that week that I felt really fit this particular puzzle.

Pieces

We’d started recording the new album but two of the songs weren’t working. Near the end of the sessions I decided to take the weekend off and try writing to see what I’d get. I’ve never written anything while I’ve been working in the studio before. Maybe that’s really green of me, but I like to have the whole collection of songs ahead of time. This song showed up very quickly. It’s a bit of a departure for me melodically but it felt like the right next step to take.

Hills

I’d had the bones of this song kicking around for years. It was always in the back of my mind, lurking somewhere. I had the melody for the verses but I couldn’t write the lyrics and I had no idea what to do for a chorus. It’s very rare for me to attempt to finish something that’s years old and basically directionless but life, finds a way. I truly think I had to be at this place in my life to be able to finish this song. It was waiting for me, not the other way around.

One More Day

This was the second song I wrote while we were in the studio. It also came quickly. So quickly, in fact that I was a little unsure about it. I’d used a 12 string and a nylon string guitar as the two main instruments and it worked but it had a certain feel to it. I thought it sounded a bit like an old John Denver song. At lunch one day we paused and asked ourselves, “is it possible to sound too John Denver?” and with a hearty laugh, we replied, “No.”

Wrong Side of Town

This is the most country sounding song on the album. I don’t sit there and try to write a folk song or a country song or anything. I couldn’t if I tried. I just write what feels most true to me at the time. This one’s a bit tongue-in-cheek lyrically, but it comes from the same deeply personal place as the rest of them.

Supposed to Say

The biggest departure for me sonically, by far. Originally there was no guitar on this song. The demo is just synth. I don’t know about the electric, but this one might have them yelling “Judas” in the aisles. We’ll see.

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:: stream/purchase Evergold here ::

:: connect with Joshua Hyslop here ::

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 © Emma Rossum

Evergold

an album by Joshua Hyslop