Motion Sickness of Time Travel was one of the first acts that made me aware of musical possibilities beyond what I was hearing on the radio or finding on the shelves of my local Target. Somehow around 2011 I got my hands on the Reverb Worship reissue of A Forest Aching Cold and was instantly obsessed. Here was something personal, almost too pure and vulnerable to share, but that itched to be brought into the light: a soundtrack for my personal micro-climate.
Skip forward 5 years and Rachel Evans’ music has lost none of its luster. The music here was selected from a large body of new recordings but it feels like a “best of.” Not to say MSoTT is static; the compositions are tighter, the sound palette broader and emotional heft more immediate. The expressive quality that first enamored me is still present: a floating avatar of internal monologues and daydreams, firmly adhering the listener’s attention to the state of their own mind. Seven years after its conception, despite a years break and the Pandora’s box of cassette music released in the interim, Motion Sickness of Time Travel is still potent and singular: a reminder of the possibilities just beyond our usual narrow view.