Fruit Bats has announced the forthcoming release of the new album “Baby Man” on 12th September 2025 via Merge Records. “Baby Man” is the follow-up to 2023’s release “A River Running to Your Heart” (Merge). Johnson is also a member of the GRAMMY-nominated indie trio Bonny Light Horseman.
Self-accompanied by solo guitar, piano or an occasional touch of synthesiser, the also GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter Eric D. Johnson (who performs under the Fruit Bats nom de scene) has made an album unlike anything in Fruit Bats’ canon. “Baby Man” comprises 10 solo performances with minimalist instrumentation and maximalist execution. Johnson’s use of space throughout the album is often as enchanting as the music, together with his expressive voice. Johnson reunited with Thom Monahan, who engineered, produced and mixed “Baby Man”. The result of the collaboration is said to be the most intimate work Fruit Bats has recorded to date.
“Right now this world is big and weird and horrible and yeah, sometimes even beautiful in short bursts. A loud place,” says Johnson. “But if you wanna take a quick moment and get eye-level with me, hear me whisper a dream in your ear, I got a new album that will do that. Here’s the first song from it. It’s a dream all right, but really a fever dream of sorts. The narrator is hazy, and in a haze, and sometimes I’m not even sure who they are. And yeah, it’s like how when you’re stuck in your own head, you can get a song stuck in your head over and over. Hopefully, this one gets in there (in a good way). Love you all.”
Johnson lays himself bare on “Baby Man” with some of the rawest material he has written. Monahan has pushed the vocals up front in the mix, which elevates both the command and the vulnerability of each performance.
You can pre-order/pre-save “Baby Man” here and in the meantime listen to the new single ‘Stuck In My Head Again’ below.
“Baby Man” tracklist:
1. Let you people down
2. Two Thousand Four
3. Stuck in My Head Again
4. Baby Man
5. Creature from the Wild
6. Puddle Jumper
7. First Girl I Loved
8. Moon’s Too Bright
9. Building a Cathedral
10. Year of the Crow
I’ll have to, but I can’t wait for this…getting a bit of Loudon Wainwright from the featured song.