Released in 2020, but still as fantastic today, Melodic Canvas have put out their latest single, “Pretentious Intentions”. Please read along with us as we share our complete thoughts on the track, in addition to a background on the project.

Based out of Northern Michigan and formed in the Fall of 2016, Melodic Canvas is the impeccable work of musician and visual artist, Evan Alderton. Aiming to push the boundaries of experimentation, his music also contains plenty of alternative rock, shoegaze, and glimmers of folk as well. Channeling the “angst ridden era of the 90’s”, “Pretentious Intentions” has absolutely consumed us since it first came across our musical plates.

While it appears that this is Melodic Canvas’ first major release since 2018’s EP I Fell Far, our immediate hope and wish after our first listen was how soon until we can get more. As lovers of all things 90’s, especially vintage and experimental sounds, “Pretentious Intentions” scratched that itch for us in a great way. The slow builds presented from the beginning of the song, to full blown explosion of sound by the end is just the way we like our music. Don’t give it to us all at once, build it up and take us on the journey to get there.

At just a shade under five minutes in total run time, so many great little ideas and pieces got to show themselves over the course of the track. Instrumentally, there was a ton going on here in terms of after effects and suspense building. Lyrically we felt that the vocals got hidden in the mix just a bit, so it was a tad difficult to make everything out on first listen, but after a close second listen that got cleared up quickly.

One of the main reasons that we ultimately loved this song is that it brought us back to a time when this was purely the only genre we listened to. Nowadays it seems as though shoegaze is being less and less represented as time goes on, so to actively hear artists give it a revival in unique ways of their own is so endearing. Sure, there’s plenty of alternative rock and folk musicians out there seeing success, but the droney sounds of the 90’s are long forgotten about. A personal message to Melodic Canvas would just have to be a big thanks and to keep it up!

As we mentioned in the beginning, we would love to hear a cohesive set of tracks based around this sound. While we’d never want to rush an artist, especially a solo project, we need some more in this same vein. It should also go without saying at this point that we are highly recommending and encouraging all the readers out there to get into this music as soon as possible. Do yourselves a favor today and give it a spin. Enjoy!

For all things Melodic Canvas, to listen, and to keep up with all future releases and information, please check out the following links below.

Listen to “Pretentious Intentions”

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Melodic Canvas channel the 90's on newest single "Pretentious Intentions"