After over a year hiatus on social media, Stevie Howie came back to announce his first album, “pan’s odyssey (act 1),” which released Friday and was fully written and produced by him.
Utilizing an edgy tone in the rasp of his voice and an electric guitar as his prime instrument, Howie’s music explores the darker parts of a person, using desire as a tool to drive every lyric and beat.
He starts the album with “pan’s intro,” a mostly instrumental piece introducing the feel of the album. He sings near the end, “Which face will a broke man pick,” alluding to the answer of desire when followed by the rest of the album.
Desire is represented differently in each of the next four songs, from the desire to lose control and be wild to the desire for a consuming love. Howie shows these desires in his lyrics, singing “Yeah, you gotta be an animal every now and then,” in “primal,” and “Hit me hard / Show me how you really feel in your heart / I’ll lower my guard / Take it out on me,” in “pan’s outro.”
In contrast to “pan’s outro,” Howie’s song, “my box,” delves into the desire to be unattainable: “I don’t want you to touch on my box.” He explores how getting too close to a significant other can bring up complicated emotions, leading to the opening of this “box” of vulnerability he is trying to avoid.
Each of the four songs following the first has a pretense of an overall sensual desire, especially in “hush.” He sings, “We’ll take it even farther / My mind is in the garters.” The “it” alludes to sensual desire multiple times in the lyrics, the implication seen in the context of each line.
The title of the album could be a reference to the Greek god Pan, who is known to embody the untamed wilderness and all the primal forces of nature. Pan is bestial and undomesticated, all things that are tied to Howie’s album.
In an Instagram post, Howie reveals in the caption, “‘primal’ was an admission of my OCD. ‘my box’ was an admission of my avoidance,” giving context to some songs he was willing to share that connected them to himself.