{"id":45244,"date":"2021-10-29T11:20:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T15:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/?p=45244"},"modified":"2021-10-28T22:18:31","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T02:18:31","slug":"sam-evian-hannah-cohen-time-to-melt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/sam-evian-hannah-cohen-time-to-melt\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Evian and Hannah Cohen Found Time to Melt in Their Catskills Artists’ Retreat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo Credit: Anna Burch<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When Sam Evian<\/a> and Hannah Cohen<\/a> shifted their lives from bustling Brooklyn to the wilderness and open landscapes of the Catskills, it was with the vision of an artist\u2019s sanctuary in mind. Their spacious and warm home, known as Flying Cloud<\/a>, provided both a working space and a comforting retreat for their collaborators and friends. Only months after moving in though, pandemic restrictions forced the revolving door of houseguests to stay shut. Evian (producer<\/a> for Blonde Redhead, Cass McCombs, and Widowspeak) and singer-songwriter Cohen used the time out from touring and hosting guests to work on their own respective albums, though never without the other\u2019s input; Evian’s Time To Melt<\/em> arrives first, on October 29 via Fat Possum Records<\/a>, following his 2018 LP You, Forever<\/a><\/em> and 2016 debut Premium<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they talk with Audiofemme<\/em> from their Catskills home, they are joined by their (very beloved) dog. Cohen is in the midst of baking. There\u2019s a sense of ease to their conversation, in which they sweetly finish each other\u2019s sentences and bat questions between them. The couple had become accustomed to the grind and hustle of city life. Evian\u2019s touring and Cohen\u2019s extensive travels as a model from the age of 17 had instilled a weariness in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were in Brooklyn before this, so it\u2019s pretty much 100 per cent different,\u201d says Evian. \u201cWe were living the city life and grinding and paying rent and just trying to survive day to day\u2026 It\u2019s been amazing to have a space to open up as artists and bring other artists here to collaborate. Escaping the city, [we\u2019ve been] getting out into the woods to reconnect with ourselves and nature, and how we want to live our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cohen is currently working on her next album. It will arrive almost a decade after her 2012 debut Child Bride<\/em><\/a>, though only a few years after Welcome Home<\/em><\/a> (2019), redolent with folksy acoustic ballads that reveal bloody-edged truths about love and loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUsually, I start writing something on my own and once I\u2019m feeling good about it, then I\u2019ll bring it to Sam. But I\u2019ll work on a song for two weeks, I\u2019ll send Sam a voice note, then I\u2019ll run away or something! I\u2019m like, \u2018Is this cool, or maybe it\u2019s not?\u2019 Sometimes I\u2019ll only have part of a song and then Sam will come in and help me pull together a bridge or a new verse. It\u2019s very collaborative,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She will record it, as Evian did Time To Melt<\/em>, in their home studio. The plan is to create a clearer divide between their home and work lives, though. \u201cThere\u2019s a barn on the property that we\u2019ll be moving the studio into, but we\u2019re in the early stages of doing that,\u201d Cohen explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re renovating the barn so we can make a bigger working space for music and also separate work and life a little bit,\u201d adds Evian. \u201cWe just need, maybe, fifteen feet of separation. It\u2019ll give us more space to have multi-dimensional art projects happen. If anyone wants to do a retreat, it will be a good space for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n