Album: Absolute Loser
Genre: Folk Rock
For fans of: The Foals, The Shins, The War on Drugs
This week I thought I'd share with you an artist that I've been really enjoying for the past two months. Absolute Loser is the latest studio album from American singer/songwriter Eric D. Johnson, who performs under the name 'Fruit Bats'.
It's one of those albums that work well as background music but which also warrant a good sitting-down to, with upbeat power songs like From a Soon-to-Be-Ghost Town that introduce you to Eric's unflinchingly honest and silky voice, to Baby Bluebird, an acoustic ballad that paints a picture of a relationship on the verge of collapse, 'if you'd given me most of you/I'd have handed over all of me.' And finally Good Will Come to You, an ultimately optimistic and uplifting song that helps to pair off the record with a sense of catharsis.
It's an album that at times may be forgiven for verging into the outright depressing, but which always brings itself back from the brink with an uplifting final message. The song Absolute Loser I think simply but effectively brings this across, with its chorus, 'an absolute loser/on the verge of something new'.
It is an album about hard times, about finding yourself in impossible situations, but ultimately, it's about finding a sense of redemption.
Listen to Humbug Mountain Song below: