A stripped-down, soul-baring indie folk journey, minimalist in sound, maximal in emotion.
Nobody could accuse Eric D Johnson (aka Fruit Bats) of resting on his laurels or being lazy. This is his fourth album using the Fruit Bats moniker to be released in the past five years, plus he’s also contributed to another three records as part of the Bonny Light Horseman in the same time period.
His latest album ‘Baby Man’ is a lo-fi affair. It’s a raw, profoundly personal collection of 10 solo tracks, featuring only voice, guitar, piano, and subtle touches of synthesiser. Although Johnson and his producer Thom Monahan, who’ve reunited after 2019’s ‘Gold Past Life’, opted for a stripped-down production approach, using sparse instrumentation, the resulting recordings draw out a profound emotional resonance in each of the songs. Johnson has used an oxymoron to describe their approach saying, “It’s minimalist-maximalism. There are fewer tracks on each song, four or five at most compared to recent albums where there’d maybe be five tracks on a song just for synths, but this is me at my most hi-fi.”
Monahan has brought Johnson’s vocals to the forefront of the mixes, uncovering a delicate grace in them. The result is to draw the listener into Johnson’s emotional landscape in which he explores themes of love, loss and self-reflection. The album’s mood is firmly established by its opener, ‘Let You People Down’, which hints at the themes to follow, with Johnson confronting his sense of failure and disappointment with unflinching honesty. ‘Two Thousand Four’ appears to reference the year 2004 which seems to have been important to Johnson for personal reasons.
The title track, ‘Baby Man’, has been described by Johnson as being “about a lot of things and it’s about rebirth.” It’s a meditation on his place in life, woven with thoughts about personal experiences, conflict with nature such as the Los Angeles wildfires, and relationships including the one with his rescue dog, who’s the subject of the touching song ‘Creature from the Wild.’
Included amongst the Johnson originals is a cover of The Incredible String Band’s ‘First Girl I Loved’. Dating from 1967, it doesn’t sound out of place either musically or lyrically. Johnson’s gentle vocals and acoustic guitar weave a tender, wistful mood that enhances the introspective nature of the lyrics, which is in keeping with the original version. The song evokes the bittersweet nostalgia of a youthful romance, long faded but forever etched in one’s memory. The album closes with the blues-tinged ‘Year of the Crow’, in which the crow symbolises transformation, mystery, and introspection.
This album reshapes Johnson’s place in the indie folk constellation, offering a brave and intimate sonic journey. It’s one that pulses with vulnerability and sets itself apart like Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
