How beautiful silence can feel — anyone who’s ever listened to the sound of waves knows it. The soft rustling of leaves in the wind, the flicker of light between trees — in those moments, the world feels gentle. But the world has become loud. And louder still. In the sheer noise of it all — from social media to advertising to the constant hum of updates and opinions — the only way to be heard sometimes seems to be to turn up the volume.
Yet somewhere in that noise, Evalyn wrote her upcoming album A Quiet Life — not as a refuge, but as a reflection. “Yes, the title is intentionally misleading,” she says. “I wanted to capture the inescapable noise of life now, even in this personal era that I always thought would be peaceful and settled.”
Raised in California, Evalyn has always known how to wrap clarity inside chaos. Her voice first found the spotlight on Louis the Child’s Fire, before carving out her own space with the intimate, genre-wandering storytelling of Salvation. Now, after a decade of translating emotional turbulence into pop confessions, she returns with an album shaped during pregnancy, in a world spinning faster than ever. During the pandemic, Evalyn also completed a master’s degree in Psychology — a quiet pursuit that gave her new ways to think about connection, identity, and what we all carry beneath the surface. That perspective runs gently through A Quiet Life.
Her latest single, Boys Girls, leans into the kind of spiral many know too well — the haunting dance between memory and obsession, digital and emotional noise. “You’re more addicted to the idea you’ve created… and there’s always something tantalizing about wanting what we can’t have,” she reflects.
In our conversation with Evalyn, we talk about the emotional dissonance of quiet vs. loud, about balance and identity, and about making music in the thick of pregnancy’s chaos and clarity.
photography by Maya Sassoon
“We had so much fun working and reworking production until it felt like it hit right,” you said about „Boys Girls“. So, what was that exact moment in the studio when you felt like the track finally clicked? (smiles)
When we first wrote Boys Girls it felt so good. And then we tried all of these tweaks and different styles and versions that just didn’t quite hit. When we finally just went back to the original and followed that sound it really clicked. It goes to show that sometimes you shouldn’t overthink it.
„Boys Girls“ captures that spiral of nostalgia and romantic obsession—scrolling, remembering, spinning out. What is it about looking back that feels so addictive, especially when it comes to love?
I believe it is always so much better in our heads than in reality in those situations. You’re more addicted to the idea you’ve created and also there is always something tantalizing about wanting what we can’t have.
I really like the title of your album „A Quiet Life“. I know it’s always tricky to choose a final name for a finished project — how long did it take you to land on it, and what’s the story behind it?
This album went through so many iterations! I cut so many songs and tried so many things. A Quiet Life really hit for me as a title because it was the embodiment of everything I thought I was supposed to have while in my first year of marriage and pregnant with my first baby, but instead the world felt unbearably loud. Between social media, reality tv and internet consumption I felt like I was drowning in noise trying to escape feeling so sick and overwhelmed in pregnancy and that really came out in the album.
“I think romanticizing the past is often escapism… but we owe it to ourselves to find our way back to the now and face what we fear.”
You’ve said “no easy answers — only the permission to feel everything, loudly.” That feels like the opposite of the album title „A Quiet Life“. Was that contrast on purpose? And how do those two ideas fit together for you?
Yes, the title is intentionally misleading. I wanted to capture the inescapable noise of life now, even in this personal era that I always thought would be peaceful and settled. It’s not at all and I wanted the music to reflect that. This album is an exploration of what it means to be in the phase of life that so many of us assumed would be calm and quiet, but during a time in history where everything is intense and in your face digitally and culturally.
What does a quiet life actually look like for you, in real life? Is it a place? A person? A decision?
I’ve really been learning what it is for me. I think a quiet life is a practice of putting down my phone and my fear of the chaos happening in the world and being present. A Quiet Life the album is my embodiment of the noise in my head as I became a mother during the advent of AI and at a time when the internet felt so all consuming. A quiet life, the reality, is having a cup of coffee while holding my baby on a weekday morning.
You were pregnant while writing and recording most of the album — how did that experience shape the way you wrote, sang, or even felt the music?
This album was completely different before I was pregnant. It was fun and energetic – the first two singles were written pre-pregnancy. But in my first trimester I was so nauseous, exhausted and anxious that I dragged myself to the studio and the music I made seemed to parallel my angst. I worked closely with some of my favorite producers and we pushed every sound and lyric to go harder and feel more intense and raw. It gave me a lifeline and a way to let out the intensity of the experience.
“A quiet life, the reality, is having a cup of coffee while holding my baby on a weekday morning.”
Do you think romanticizing the past is just a way of grieving the versions of ourselves we didn’t get to stay with?
That’s a beautiful question. I think romanticizing the past is often escapism and it allows us not to have to confront what is holding us back in the present. When life is hard, escapism can be a beautiful thing, but we owe it to ourselves to find our way back to the now and face what we fear.
We usually ask artists about the most important thing in their life right now — and I’m guessing for you, that might be your child? (smiles)
Aw, I mean yes of course, I’m obsessed with him. But if I’m honest, the thing that’s most important in my life right now is finding balance – learning to be a mother, a partner, an artist and a person. I want to set that example for my son and show myself that it’s possible to embody all of it.
Thank you so much for your time!
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