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Evert Snyman Premieres “Operation Human Shield” Video; Hot Mess Out Jan. 22

Evert Snyman operation human shield

Evert Snyman will release his second solo album, Hot Mess, on Jan. 22 through Mongrel Records. The longtime producer recently made his debut as a full-time guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist of Ruff Majik on that band’s The Devil’s Cattle (review here) and has been involved in a range of other projects in and around Johannesburg, South Africa, including Mad God and Pollinator, in addition to having issued his own first LP, The Aviary, last year. With Hot Mess, he brings 11 tracks and 40 minutes of richly varied and organic-sounding rock and roll, some of it weighted in tone or fuzz, but most within the sphere of latter day Queens of the Stone Age, if somewhat meatier sounding on the whole and maintaining an adventurousness of its own when it comes to arrangements. Snyman is not shy with keyboards, as the title-track of Hot Mess shows.

I’ve been trying to bottom-line Hot Mess since it first came my way, to narrow down what’s the album’s ultimate appeal. It’s the groove, it’s the songwriting, it’s the performances, and so on. The truth is it’s all of it. One track here tops five minutes — “If Eyes Could Kill” at 5:03 — and the sense of craft is remarkably tight. Snyman self-harmonizes easily on vocals, even plays both the Oliveri and Homme roles on the shoutier “Dumb and Dead,” and as the video premiering below for “Operation Human Shield” demonstrates, is comfortable on across various instruments and able to record himself layering a song together one piece at a time. He carries a frontman’s charisma in these tracks, pulling off the Bernie Worrell-style watery weirdness at the end of “Maybe Never” as ably as the desert-hued hooks of opener “The End of Time” and the subsequent piano-meet-fuzz “Debilitate Me” — both of which feel like singles in waiting — and the sudden sweep of “Live the Lie” that takes off from the garage jangle hints toward Evert Snyman operation human shield coversounding unhinged but is too sharply executed to get there, even in its noisier final stretch.

Parts of Hot Mess will underscore some of what Snyman brought to the aforementioned 2020 offering from Ruff Majik, but even as Snyman builds a wall of fuzz backed by keys on “If Eyes Could Kill,” the song carries a melancholy of its own, which earlier keyboardy pieces like “Cleaner Than God” and the nighttime-dancer “Hot Mess” hinted toward, setting the table for the wake-up-call jangle and immediate hook of “Operation Human Shield,” which is nowhere near as speedy as the record gets but likewise far from at rest. To round out, Snyman plays like an impatient McCartney on the early piano of “Consummate” and carries a fuzzy build to a satisfying payoff, and closer “Burn” echoes the theme with a bouncing line that draws together that Beatles-y bounce with the post-QOTSA vibe, not quite summarizing everything Hot Mess has to offer, but certainly giving the album a melodically engaging sendoff as fitting as one could ask.

In addition to his own multi-instrumentalism and vocals, Snyman has a full band — Stiaan Du Preez on guitar, Christiaan Van Reenen on guitars, piano, vocals, Wessel Möller on synth and keys, Andi Cappo on bass and Timothy Edwards on drums and vocals — but it seems to vary who does what on each track, and as a tongue-in-cheek quick series of videos of the group introducing themselves and noting that none of them play “Operation Human Shield” demonstrates, sometimes it’s Snyman all on his own. One assumes that accounts for some of the varied personality throughout Hot Mess, but as much as the album may be titled as a goof on its catchall nature or diversity of influences, the fact is it’s anything but. It is united not only by Snyman‘s vocals and ready higher-register lines, but, again, the songwriting at the core of each of these tracks. They are bridged together through sheer quality of the work being done and thus the flow of Hot Mess, while clearly not intended to be smooth, is exciting to follow from front to back.

During this pandemic year, we’ve seen a number of quarantine-style videos with each member of a band filming their own part and then grouping together the bunch in one clip. It’s become kind of a genre of its own. Snyman plays off that in the clip for “Operation Human Shield,” except he shows himself recording all the instruments and vocals, so yes, very much a solo thing as noted.

PR wire info follows the video below.

Please enjoy:

Evert Snyman, “Operation Human Shield” official video premiere

One rarely encounters that unique sound that draws you in and alerts your senses…that rare quality in a musician that forces you to listen more closely and pay attention. South African musician and producer Evert Snyman is exactly that – a talented songwriter and performer who has enthralled many an audience with his galvanic melodies, poetic, yet straightforward lyrics and hypnotic rhythms. Based in Johannesburg, Evert has launched and collaborated on various projects, cementing himself as a versatile multi-instrumentalist, the most notorious of these being alternative rock bands, Pink Noise and Pollinator. Recording and producing all his own music at his studio in Auckland Park, he quickly become renowned on the local scene as the go to rock producer, working with bands like Caution Boy, Mad God and Ruff Majik, whose ranks he recently joined as a full time member.

What sets Evert apart from other musicians is the raw honesty of his music. Snyman is a fearless and unabated songwriter and lyricist, speaking to emotions we often keep hidden – even from ourselves. Evert’s powerful vocals range from angst-ridden screams to crystal clear melodies that cut through intense rock guitars, drums, and keys. “Operation Human Shield” is the first single taken from Snyman’s forthcoming solo album “Hot Mess” out 22nd January 2021 via Mongrel Records.

“Initially I just wanted to make a song in 6/8 timing with Jazzy drumbeat and piano. I don’t know what some my songs are about until long after I’ve written them, but I think it’s safe to say the lockdown had a fair bit of influence on this one” – Evert Snyman

Evert Snyman (band) is:
Evert Snyman – Vocals, Guitar and Keys
Timothy Edwards – Drums and Vocals
Andi Cappo – Bass
Christiaan Van Reenen – Guitar, Piano and Vocals
Stiaan Du Preez – Guitar
Wessel Möller – Keyboards and Synthesizer

Evert Snyman on Facebook

Mongrel Records website

Mongrel Records on Facebook

Mongrel Records on Instagram

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