“A Child Shamed,” Evil

By Serenidy Pries, Contributing Writer

Sometimes the first time you hear a song it punches you in the gut. “A Child Shamed,” the new single from artist Evil, did that the first three times I listened to it.  Overwhelming feelings of loss, betrayal and desertion pull at you from every direction.

It is unsettling how the lyrics and vocals haunt, their (Evil prefers they/them) voice floating above the delicately picked banjo. It sets your mind ablaze with the artist’s deep feelings of loneliness and regret.  You’re completely drawn into their desire to be heard in a world that so often refuses to acknowledge your very presence, much less accept you for who you are and value your contributions to art and society. If you’re not feeling some serious existential dread by the time the song finishes, you may be a cyborg.

Although the song stands up on its own, it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate the music from the video that accompanies it. The dichotomy of bucolic images of beautiful farm country against the poignant despair of the lyrics are impossible to deny. The raw emotion that is so obvious in their mirrored image seeps into your psyche and stays for days. (I admit, though, I still want to pet those goats.)

Evil, aka Babeo Baggins, is also an integral part of the duo Smoke Kings. And if it wasn’t enough being an accomplished musician, they are also selling some seriously gorgeous merch. Watch and listen to the new Evil video “A Child Shamed” today, and feel all the damn feels.