Review: Carlisle Evans Peck’s “The Last Noble Thing” EP

Local singer/songwriter Carlisle Evans Peck released a new EP this Fall, The Last Noble Thing, the follow up to his very good full length of two years ago, Electric Porcelain. In the EP’s five new tunes he continues to adhere to his classical-meets-indie piano sound, while also pushing and moulding it further.  

Evans Peck has a great ear for crafting soft/loud dynamics in such a way that tends to fill his songs with drama and pathos – not dissimilar to those employed in musical theater.  In a similar vein Evans Peck flexes his excellent tenor vocals in such a way that he can connote strength and fragility almost simultaneously.  This is done both via his dynamic range as well as his lyrics, which feel emotionally frank and honest both in the message they are conveying as well as the feeling. 

The drama in the songcraft feels intentional. Evans Peck was inspired by the cognitive dissonance he was feeling, teaching elementary school children while the world seemed to be going up in flames around him. It’s unsurprising that polarization plays such a large part in the music, both musically and thematically. 

While The Last Noble Thing may be inspired by the end of the world, it luckily takes a hopeful note.  Grief and melancholy are a big part of the sound but over it all hope shines through the strongest. Something as simple as ending a few of the tunes with pastoral nature sounds helps to advance the notion that this is not time to despair. The earth is strong. People are strong. We’re on a dangerous and destructive path but there is still hope. 

Stream/purchase The Last Noble Thing here or below

— Jon