Album Notes

"Give me fifty feet -- maybe slightly more, i'm
imposing quarantine around me...it's for my own good
it serves the needs of many..." We've all known
someone like him. A sensitive guy, equal parts hipster
and geek, uncomfortable in his own skin - not
realizing how cool he just might be. In Stevel's first
release, a 6-song EP entitled "Figure Skater," the
listener is invited into the mind of a confirmed
outsider looking in. From the first blast of driving
indie alt-pop guitar riffs on 'Quarantine,' we get a
sense of longing, while Stevel's Bowie-esque vocals
relay the trials of self-ostracizing tendencies. But
we don't buy the line that it "serves the needs of
many." In fact, we kinda like him here. In the second
track, Stevel wonders where his besotted spends her
free afternoons, before asking -- or almost asking --
"...Do you want? ... Do you want? ... Do you want? ..." while
the listener is filled with the desire to grab him and
yell, "Just ask! She'd probably say 'Yes!' You're a
sensitive, sexy-voiced rocker who writes and performs
on all his tracks. What more could she ask for?" But
Stevel's not too easily convinced. The rest of the
album spans the auditory spectrum with an folksy,
acoustic tune sympathizing with a friend's lousy luck,
an alt-rock gem in which our hero is twisted and
turned from yearning and a darker track - the moodiest
of the EP -- where Stevel is forced to take a stand.
For dessert, we're treated to an exceptional cover of
'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,' complete with
strategically placed falsetto glottal pops. Face it
Stevel, you're pretty friggin' cool. And although
we're promised in 'Long Story Short' that "this is the
last time..." we certainly hope it's not.-Heather McCullough