Eric Baugh strummed the decades and all the contemporary distractions which came as a courtesy of them in his debut single, Silent Spring. The bluesy lead notes against the quiescent calm of the acoustic folk-rock chords beneath his beckoning vocal lines will strike all the right notes with fans of Cat Stevens and Paul Simon.
The LA-based singer-songwriter made as much of a case for the beauty in simplicity in his guitar work as his lyrics which bring to question the way we live as though there’s no alternative. Consumerism and greed were never part of the human psyche’s blueprint; as eloquently illustrated by Baugh, we’ve been conditioned into commercialist conformity, and it is never too late to start again.
It may take more than one stunning song fuelled with small-town iconography and bearing R.E.M. reminiscences to derail our descent into further despondency with the world around us, but Baugh’s contribution is sure to compel his listeners into questioning their compulsions.
Silent Spring reached all major platforms on September 15; stream it via this link.
Review by Amelia Vandergast