In collaborative settings, the personalities of each participant can potentially engulf the other into a gelatinous blob of unified thought that threatens individuality. But then there are those who strengthen each other, trading creativity and energies that spew forth in solo projects. Rachel and Grant Evans of Quiet Evenings have become such a couple, pushing one another into exciting terrain rather than allowing Quiet Evenings’ wholesome expressions to do their speaking. And with Motion Sickness of Time Travel, Rachel’s solo voice has grown louder and more confident with each outing. The Cirque, released on the pair’s own Hooker Vision label, is a puffed-out chest of compositional fortitude. Dissected into three distinct movements, the release is Rachel’s restraint in the face of relentless sonics. Where others are abandoning the sounds of silence for overabundance, Rachel finds a new layer to MSOTT through the addition of melody: The Cirque, in spite of its avant pretense, embraces pop in its final acts, shifting away from abstract tinkering and endless drones and toward something fresh. Here, Rachel is once again triumphant in her own discovery process, with The Cirque acting as a loud yet sweet battle cry that partnership does not kill creativity.
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