Premiere: Bobby Stevens wades through mental health on new EP, ‘Working on Something’

The mechanics of psychological agony are much more complex than meets the eye. In the age of digital soundbites, mental trappings tighten and smother and swell. The puzzle pieces don’t quite seem to make any sense, and so, those tangled and mangled by their own connective tissues nearly suffocate or are left for dead altogether. The ever-widening abyss is self-consuming, locked into a cycle of pain and social isolation that extinguishes a once-vibrant existence to smokey ash and charred bones. With the larger cultural conversation opening up on mental health, Americana storyteller Bobby Stevens puts forward his own gut-wrenching perspective and chronicles a voyage through the darkest waters of humanity. “Well, a very good friend, he gave me a tune / He said, ‘Every day’s a good day to die’ / I can’t tell if he’s right or wrong / ‘Cause why I am I still alive,” the St. Louis, Missouri musician pokes his insides as a way to purge the bile from his system. Later, with the jangly opener “Chill Out Night,” he reframes his intimate emotional journey as indicative of the greater social epidemic, “Everyone’s got different reasons / For kicking themselves in the ass…”

Stevens drives his pen deeper within himself, turning it as a corkscrew, and then wields its brassy edge as a syringe for the most vulnerably desolate of human truths. Across his new EP, Working on Something, premiering today, he’s pinned throbbing nerve endings alongside his heart on his sleeve, and his outpouring of conviction funnels right back into his vocal scratches and timeless songcraft. “Lost and Found,” shaken and stirred with Cara Louise’s staggering harmony work, nestled against Stevens’ addicting gravel tone, collates the physical and mental barriers and Stevens’ eventual escape somewhere in between. “First I lost my pride / Then I lost my voice / Seems like there were times / I didn’t have a choice,” he sings, continuing to underscore the sheer helplessness of mental decay. He then bathes in the torrential downpour of “Rocket Ship” before the clouds swiftly part, and he’s left with the promise of new hope ⏤ or perhaps further ruin. “I won’t be standing there / I won’t be washed away” lingers on his lips, the final delivery forever leaving an imprint of self-absolution.

Yet “Sirens,” a call to Townes Van Zandt and John Prine, appears to depict those who don’t make it out alive. “There’s squares and lines of people / Stuck in the shadows of the steeple / Seeking relief or pardon / For a crime they didn’t choose,” he tears pages from his own book, one forged in close-calls and spiraling out, and tosses them into the fire one last time. “While tucked inside the building / Voices echo to the ceiling / Just be thankful for what you got / Be happy you’re alive,” sings Stevens, who dresses up the imagery with poetic simplicity. His approach, too, touches upon such influences as Guy Clark and Kris Kristofferson, whose work adhered to the plights of the every man, with a modern configuration. On the near-acoustic closer “Wandering Man,” Stevens lays all his cards on the table, almost resigning himself to the current state of affairs with a calm, but downtrodden, demeanor. “If I were a wandering boy, I’d dance and sing for you, for some of your loose coins,” he sings.

Working on Something, recorded at Encapsulated Studios with producer Gabe Usery (also playing guitar and drums throughout the record), rises as “a five-song collection about dealing with it all ⏤ the ups and downs, ins and outs, losts and founds,” writes Stevens to B-Sides & Badlands over email. “It was started with the intention of being a stripped down recording but morphed into something more. This is thoughtful, inside the mind stuff with the lining of throwing all the shit out and trying to get to a good place.”

“Gabe’s ear made this all come together, and we worked well together in the studio,” he adds. “All of my other recordings have been done live. It was really cool getting to build all the tracks up from the bottom.”

Working on Something drops everywhere tomorrow (May 24).

Listen below:

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