Rating: **1/2
Must Listen: Late in the Night
Skip: Turn on Your Light
Piano pop is a tough genre to sound cool. It’s just hard. It’s so much cooler to be a cigarette-smokin’, whiskey-drinking rock and roller. So when NYC indie-pop artist, Eric Frisch ended up in my inbox I didn’t have high hopes. The cover is him just chillin’ at a piano with some headphones on. It just screamed, “I’m at this piano because I’ve never been very good with girls.” But I chose to let my ears do the judging and not my preconceived notions of piano pop. It’s only an EP anyways so if it’s gonna suck, at least it’ll be short, right?
Listen to "As Long as I'm Alive" here:
We start the 4 track journey with, As Long as I’m Alive. A pleasant piano intro leads us earnest lyrics about a young mans contemplation of “being so far where he wants to be.” It’s basic but effective. He’s a good singer so that helps. There isn’t anything groundbreaking here but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a good little midtempo pop ballad. The title track, Late in the Night is next. I like this one a lot. It reminds me of breaking up with a girl and drinking too much between the hours of 1am and 6am. Again, it’s not changing the world but he’s definitely relatable and talented. Turn on Your Light takes a turn for honky tonk with mixed results. It comes off kinda insincere to be honest. Like a lifetime New Yorker went to Nashville once, took in a couple of bar bands and decided that they were gonna be the next George Jones. This one is a pass. Loved You All Along is the grand finale and it takes a turn to Buddy Holly-esque 50’s pop. It’s not a bad sound for Frisch, but it’s been done better.
The good news is that Eric Frisch is a real charmer. He’s a good singer and a solid songwriter and that keeps things afloat on this one. I hope he can throw another 6 or 7 tracks together so we can see what he can really do. It’s an easy listen, but it isn’t gonna challenge you and that’s okay.