Evergreen (Echo & The Bunnymen Album) - Recording and Packaging

Recording and Packaging

The recording of Evergreen started at the beginning of 1997 when Echo & the Bunnymen entered Doghouse Studios in Henley-on-Thames. The production of the album was undertaken by McCulloch and Paul Toogood, the band's new manager, although it was credited to the band in the liner notes to the album. With Oasis in the next studio, Liam Gallagher contributed backing vocals to the track "Nothing Lasts Forever". McCulloch said, "We just hit it off right away, and after a few beers he ended up singing on the record." McCulloch also said that Gallagher "insisted we put tambourine on " which "took to another level". Adam Peters, who had previously worked on the band's 1984 album Ocean Rain, was brought in to provide string arrangements for the album. Using musicians from the London Metropolitan Orchestra, Peters recorded string passages for seven tracks from the album at Abbey Road Studios in London. With Clif Norrell, who had previously worked with R.E.M., finishing the mixing of the album, the recording was completed by the end of March 1997.

The photograph used on the front cover of the album was shot by Norman Watson, who also directed the videos for two of the singles from the album – "Nothing Lasts Forever", which was to become the lead single from the album, and "I Want to Be There (When You Come)". The cover was shot in Marrakech in early May 1997 and echoes the cover of the band's 1980 debut album Crocodiles. The cover picture shows the band against a backdrop of trees at night. However, in place of the band's former drummer de Freitas, who died in a motorcycle accident, the photograph shows the remaining band members with a car.