Music Review // Evan Hannah "Overwhelmed"

As soon as this song starts, you can hear the R&B influence come out.   Maybe it's just because I knew more about the genre back then, but I always relate that soulful almost pop R&B style such as this with artists that pre-date the year 2000 because they just don't seem to be as present any more.  I'm talking about names like Boyz II Men and even Babyface, who I hear a lot of in this song.

Within the singing there are tones like pianos but then also that soft, acoustic guitar strumming, which of course is what makes me think of Babyface the most.   I think we've all felt overwhelmed before.  I have this working theory that life is overwhelming and so it's just one of those things you don't want to think about or you'll drive yourself crazy.   But for this specific song, Evan Hannah seems to be describing a specific event which has left him feeling overwhelmed.  

Lyrics such as "Scared and lost since we departed" make it feel like a romantic break up, but if you just think of it in the sense of two people who were together somehow (friendship, romantic, family, etc) not being together any more now, then it becomes an issue where it could be overwhelming because it's like one person has to do everything which was once being handled by two people.

Much of feeling overwhelmed can be described in the lines: "I am in my fear / And I don't even know why"  A lot of it comes from fear, so you just have to gain that confidence that you can overcome.   By the end of the song there is this part that just says "Overwhelmed / Underwater" and sometimes being overwhelmed can feel like drowning-- I think it's an apt comparison.  But if you do find yourself being overwhelmed, listen to this song and remember that you can swim.