Eyal Erlich: Four Songs (Indie, 2025)
- Keyline Mag
- 13 minutes ago
- 2 min read
All in All – Jenny – Already In – I Wish I Knew. Four tracks, four little case studies in how a singer-songwriter balances wounded poetics with melodic modesty. Erlich isn’t about blowing you away; he’s about whispering in your ear until you lean closer. Sometimes it works, sometimes it drifts, but it’s never dishonest.
“All in All” is the standout because it does what confessional folk-pop should: crystallize the eternal grind. “I got my symphony and I got rent / Got no sympathy, and my life’s spent” is equal parts complaint and confession, a miniature reminder of how art and commerce grind against each other. The chorus (“All in all, to be with you”) rescues it from despair, suggesting love as a counterweight. That mix of cynicism and hope feels earned.
“Jenny” is trickier. The lyrics stack metaphors—kite, paper man, purple heart—until Jenny becomes less a character than a collage. That may frustrate literalists, but it’s also the point: Jenny is everyone and no one, the ghost of someone you lost, the stand-in for someone you never had. The song doesn’t resolve; it lingers like an unfinished conversation.
“Already In” lightens the palette, though not without edge. The refrain repeats like a mantra—already in, already in—as if trying to convince itself. But the imagery—waves making shores, cherry silk, sin as inevitability—gives the song some erotic charge. It’s both surrender and warning, set to a melody more buoyant than the subject matter suggests.
“I Wish I Knew” is the bleakest. “The murder weapon is you” isn’t a metaphor most writers would risk, and the song leans hard into that fatalism. The sparseness makes it feel heavier, though at times it borders on melodrama. Still, the bluntness has its own power, especially when set against the subtler strokes of the other tracks.
Taken together, these four songs are sketches, not monuments. Erlich is testing out voices—cynical observer, haunted lover, accidental optimist, confessor of regret. He hasn’t yet written the song that ties it all together, but you can hear the possibility. His greatest asset is his refusal to fake it. Even when a lyric stumbles, the intent is real. That honesty may not catapult him onto charts tomorrow, but it’s what keeps listeners coming back.
Grade: B+
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