The New Eves The New Eve Is Rising
The New Eves' The New Eve Is Rising arrives as a rousing manifesto of primal chamber punk and folk reinvention, and critics largely agree the record succeeds as a vivid statement of female agency. Earning a 78.33/100 consensus score across 6 professional reviews, the debut stakes out a singular identity by marrying ritualistic folk imagery with jagged, often violent sonics that feel both ancient and immediate.
Reviewers consistently point to a handful of standout tracks as the clearest expressions of the album's aims. “The New Eve” is repeatedly praised as a preacher-like opener that crystallises the band’s feminist reimagining, while “Cow Song” is singled out for its kulning-inflected pastoral tension and live energy. Critics also flag “Volcano” and “Highway Man” as centerpiece moments - “Volcano” for its slow, menacing burn and extended ambition, “Highway Man” for its galloping drive and tone-morphing harmonies. Across professional reviews, praise centers on inventiveness, DIY spirit, and a willingness to privilege raw presence over polish.
At the same time, reviewers note occasional excess: experiments sometimes overstay and rough edges can feel deliberate to the point of strain. That tension is part of the record's project - tradition versus reinvention, myth recontextualization, and ritualistic performance - and it underpins why critics recommend the album while acknowledging its polarizing textures. For readers searching for an authoritative The New Eve Is Rising review or wondering what the best songs on the record are, the consensus points to “The New Eve”, “Cow Song”, “Volcano” and “Highway Man” as essential entry points into the band's startling debut.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
The New Eve
6 mentions
"“The new Eve is curious and free/ she eats what she wants to eat”"— Dusted Magazine
Cow Song
5 mentions
"The harmony-laden ‘Cow Song’ uses the traditional Swedish vocal technique of kulning"— New Musical Express (NME)
Highway Man
6 mentions
"“Highway Man,” shifts the perspective of an old poem, giving the woman loved by the highway man her own agency"— Dusted Magazine
“The new Eve is curious and free/ she eats what she wants to eat”
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
The New Eve
Highway Man
Cow Song
Mid Air Glass
Astrolabe
Circles
Mary
Rivers Run Red
Volcano
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 7 critics who reviewed this album
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Critic's Take
In her clear-eyed review, The New Eves are praised for forging a fierce, primal chamber-punk sound on The New Eve Is Rising, and the best songs - notably “Astrolabe” and “Highway Man” - show why. Kelly’s language is urgent and vivid, noting how “Astrolabe” drones and haunts yet pummels, and how “Highway Man” rides a galloping, headlong beat with tone-morphing harmonies. The review necklaces pastoral folk imagery to feminist reclamation, so readers searching for the best tracks on The New Eve Is Rising will find these songs singled out as centerpiece moments. The writing is both descriptive and rallying, recommending the album as a record to keep you strong as the lights go out everywhere.
Key Points
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The best song, "Astrolabe", is best for how it combines drone, harmonies and pounding rhythms into a haunting opener.
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The album's core strengths are its feminist myth-reworking, primal chamber-punk instrumentation, and irrepressible DIY spirit.
Themes
Critic's Take
In her exuberant, detail-rich tone Rhian Daly argues that The New Eves find their clearest triumphs on songs like “The New Eve” and “Mary” on The New Eve Is Rising. She relishes the record’s freak-folk oddities and pagan-fairytale stagecraft, praising the sermon-like opening “The New Eve” as a manifesto and the harmonica-led “Mary” for its ritual release. Daly notes how the band recast old stories into fresh forms, from kulning in “Cow Song” to a woman’s take on “Highway Man”. Even when experiments sometimes overstay, she concludes the debut mostly gets things "just right" and is firmly recommended.
Key Points
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The opening title track is best because it serves as a confident manifesto of the band’s themes and attitude.
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The album’s core strength is recasting ancient and traditional elements into fresh, freak-folk rock with strong theatricality.
Themes
Critic's Take
In a voice that luxuriates in detail and precise comparison, The New Eves' debut The New Eve Is Rising makes a case for its best songs by way of theatrical immediacy and jagged instrumentation. The review savours the weird blend on “Cow Song”, praises the slow, menacing build of “Volcano” and singles out the dramatic percussive turn on “Rivers Run Red” as a peak moment. Alexis Petridis frames these best tracks as evidence that the band prize raw presence over polish, which is why listeners seeking the best songs on The New Eve Is Rising should start with “Cow Song” and “Volcano” and then hear how “Rivers Run Red” crystallises their intensity. The narrative repeatedly returns to the album's live, white-knuckle energy as the rationale for why these tracks stand out.
Key Points
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Cow Song is the best song because its blend of glam drums, sawing strings and folky vocal roar crystallises the album's thrilling presence.
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The album's core strength is its live immediacy and genre-mixing instrumentation that make it feel exciting and full of ideas.
Critic's Take
In a confident, detail-rich debut Sharon O'Connell frames The New Eves and The New Eve Is Rising as a project of liberation where the best songs - notably “The New Eve” and “Volcano” - make the album's aims audible. She writes in a measured, admiring tone, pointing to the cello-led manifesto of “The New Eve” and the eight-and-a-half-minute burn of “Volcano” as standout moments that fuse mysticism with punk energy. The review highlights how tracks such as “Cow Song” and “Circles” shift moods and textures, showing why listeners searching for the best tracks on The New Eve Is Rising will find much to admire. O'Connell's voice is observant and archival, celebrating the record's adventurousness while noting its communal, poetic roots.
Key Points
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“The New Eve” is best for its cello-led manifesto poem and its framing as a feminist 'glorious battle cry'.
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The album's core strengths are its adventurous blending of folk, post-punk and chamber textures and its communal, liberation-focused songwriting.
Themes
Critic's Take
The New Eves arrive on The New Eve Is Rising sounding like nobody else, and the best songs underline that odd, compelling identity. The opener “The New Eve” is a potent incantation of feminine energy, while “Cow Song” ripples with live energy and unity, and “Volcano” brings the record's complex threads together in an ambitious seven-minute finale. This is a debut that sparkles with invention and bloody-minded singularities, so if you want the best tracks on The New Eve Is Rising, start with “The New Eve”, “Cow Song” and “Volcano”.
Key Points
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The opener “The New Eve” is the best track for establishing the band’s potent, singular identity.
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The album’s core strengths are inventive songwriting, a cohesive group unity, and bold hybrid influences.
Themes
Critic's Take
The New Eves arrive on The New Eve Is Rising with a debut that is equal parts ritual and romp, and the best songs - notably “The New Eve” and “Cow Song” - make that duality feel effortless. Daisy Carter's voice here revels in vivid, slightly mad imagery, so when she calls “The New Eve” an "arresting, preacher-like manifesto" you understand why it stands out as one of the best tracks on the record. Elsewhere, “Cow Song” and “Highway Man” supply warped pastoral colour and screeching tension that keep the album kinetic rather than ponderous. The result is a playful, boundary-pushing debut that reads like a beginning in full cry rather than a finale.
Key Points
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The New Eve is best for its incantatory, preacher-like centerpiece that crystallizes the album's themes.
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The album's core strengths are its fusion of ancient folk and experimental rock, vivid imagery, and playful boundary-pushing performance.