Eric D. Johnson, the main guy behind Fruit Bats, has always managed to harness emotion and energy in a unique fashion. His indie has a Seventies singer-songwriter vibe about it, along with the playfulness of Nineties stuff, like singles from The Lemonheads and The Replacements. His latest, A River Running to Your Heart, is out on Merge Records on Friday and it's got the sort of easy charm about it that most of the last few Fruit Bats releases have had.
The songs on A River Running to Your Heart are all about place, from the catchy-as-hell "Rushin' River Valley" to the spry shuffle of "Waking Up in Los Angeles" and on to "It All Comes Back", where Johnson explicitly sings, "We've lost a sense of place." That makes things clear, even as the tunes here offer a variety of styles within the usual Fruit Bats sound. "The Deep Well" has a melody that's built off of a hint of tension, while the fantastic closer "Jesus Tap Dancing Christ (It's Good to Be Home)" gives this whole album the sense of closure it's been moving towards. The tune is lilting and soothing, with an elegantly ascending pattern behind Johnson's vocals. The keyboards here provide a sleek surface where the other cuts seemed to rely a bit more on guitars, and the whole effect is wonderfully fulfilling.
Modest in ambitions, this new Fruit Bats record eases itself into your ears and heart. It's music with the kind of up-front emotional content that places it squarely in line with AOR stuff from my youth, but it's got a sort of indie spirit behind it. It would be easy to make this insufferable, but Eric D. Johnson has a light touch, and things are not oppresively sentimental. Johnson earns his moods here, and the melodies are strong enough to make this highly recommended, even if you don't want to open up to the genial vibe here.
A River Running to Your Heart by Fruit Bats is out on Friday via Merge Records.
[Photo: Chantal Anderson]