Eric Selby - Starting to Synch In EP (2025)

I love music that seems vaguely familiar yet is still the sort of thing you can’t put in a neat pigeonhole or easily tag. It often doesn’t pay to get too experimental, not if you want enough people to come along for the ride, but neither should you be content to just give them what they want…where is the fun in that? Certainly not for the audience and not for the artist.

No, the art is to be familiar enough to slide into existing comfort zones while pushing a totally fresh sound. And if that approach is good enough for Eric Selby then it should be good enough for the rest of us. Starting to Synch In is the sound of just such an attitude in operation, five tracks that feel as if you have been listening to them for a long time (the definition of a classic) yet which offer something infectious, new and unavoidable, (the definition of a potential hit).

It speaks volumes that he has had albums shortlisted for rock, pop, and folk awards, and Starting To Synch In , with its nice little pun of a title, exists in that heady sonic brew. “Issues,” which opens things up, is a modern take on a funky, 70’s white soul sound; it grooves and gyrates as Eric lays out his woes and reflects on the things that have left mental scars, but in the most contagious of ways.

There are gorgeous and understated anthems such as “Wine Stains,” a folk-pop gem that owes as much to the likes of Talking Heads as it does the singer-songwriter set. “Because of You” is a great slice of shimmering rock, and “Just The Same” is one of those evolving songs that use dynamic and change of sonic weight as if they were running a songwriting masterclass.

It’s a great EP, five songs that could and indeed should all be out there as singles, and a great reminder of what a consummate writer, performer, and deliverer of songs Eric Selby is.