Rollercoaster – TP Eric (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

As last year’s Grateful album deftly showed, TP Eric is not someone who has much to do with labels and scenes. I suppose the most you could say is that he makes indie-pop music, a sund slightly infused with a sense of nostalgia, perhaps an echo of the ’60s here and there, but certainly not the sort of chart-bound pop pap that the label has come to stand for these days. In short, it is unique.

“Love Dance” blends a sort of late-era Beatles sound with something a lot more west-coast, and then within that, there are also hints of more recent influences, it isn’t hard to draw a line between this song and classic era Mercury Rev. And the fact that even to make such a general statement about the music I travelled three decades and visited London, California and the Catskill Mountains, shows precisely how wonderfully complex the music is to pin down.

“I Am Like You” is more buoyant and full of groove, a frantic flurry of soulful guitar licks mixed with a sort of darker undertone, provoking a strange mix of feelings. “Welcome” has no such conflicts. It is a cascading folk song that balances more robust guitars with understated atmospheres and explains the joy and safety of creating your own musical world around you in a way that few other songs have done so eloquently.

“For You” is busy, bouncy and broadly psychedelic, a groover and no mistake, “Ask For Light” plays with the sort of pop/non-pop that you could always accuse Bowie of making, and the title track which sees us out of the album is a suitably unique piece to end the album on. It is a song that twists and turns like the titular “Rollercoaster,” a song that is a paean to the complexities of life and how we need to surrender to the journey, take things as they come and try to enjoy the ride.

Even in this post-genre world, much music fits easily into boxes and pigeon-holes, still happy following the old demarcations and rules. But not TP Eric. His is a musical world that builds bridges in all directions. He looks back to a time of a more innocent sound, but in doing so, uses it to create a sound of the future. He connects genres, scenes and styles that generally have little to do with each other. And there is something open, honest and appealing about the music found here, with no agenda other than to talk about life calmly, coolly and in a relatable fashion. And I love TP Eric for that level-headed loveliness.