Daily Dose: E.B. The Younger, “Down and Out”

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Daily Dose: E.B. The Younger, “Down and Out”

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Midlake’s Eric Pulido continues to carve out his own indie-rock niche with two new tracks released under his solo project E.B. The Younger. “Down and Out” and “When The Time Comes” are the first singles from Pulido’s debut solo album To Each His Own, which is partially inspired by his love for ‘70s rock, folk and country music. “When The Time Comes” gets your toes tapping with playful piano and chunky guitar chords, but there’s something special about “Down and Out,” which draws you in with dreamy ease.

Speaking about the creation of “Down and Out,” Pulido recalled:

My Midlake bandmate Joey McClellan was recording with Elle King here in town at a great studio called The Echo Lab and she asked him if anyone had a spare acoustic guitar to try. I of course offered mine up to use. When returned I pulled out the guitar to work on some writing, gave it a strum, and found it was in an open G tuning. I’d never written in that tuning but decided to give it a whirl. I wrote the bones of the tune right there and finished out the lyrics the day we tracked with producers Jonathan Tyler and Matt Pence. I wanted it to have a little dose of the country western music I grew up on.

Pulido’s been on quite the musical journey since joining folk-rock band Midlake as a guitarist and backing vocalist. He took a break from the band in 2014, for a time taking up with the transatlantic supergroup and self-described “poor man’s Travelling Wilburys” BNQT. That collective, featuring Pulido, Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses, Fran Healy of Travis, Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle and Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, released the 2017 album BNQT – Volume 1.

Now, Pulido has set out on his own, but with a humility that sets him apart from many solo artists. When describing why he chose the moniker E.B. The Younger, Pulido explained how we are ever-connected to others—and threw in a dig at Trump while he was at it:

It’s an antiquated way of naming a younger member of a family. I’m expressing, simply, that something greater came before me. It’s countering the idea in today’s culture that everything revolves around ourselves, that we’re the most important thing in the world. I feel that humility is a lost virtue—you only have to look at America’s current leader to see just how lost—which I want this record to represent. Honesty, empathy, love.

This ethos is reflected in E.B. The Younger’s collaborative songwriting process, in which Pulido showed his backing band the vocals and acoustic guitar for a song, and the rest of the musicians would help craft the sonic landscape from there. And this project boasts one hell of a band: Joey McClellan (electric guitar), McKenzie Smith (drums) and Jesse Chandler (flute) from Midlake complement the sounds of their fellow backing band members from The Texas Gentlemen, Scott Lee (bass), Daniel Creamer (keyboards) and Beau Bedford (keyboards).

To Each His Own will be released March 8 via Bella Union. Check out E.B. The Younger’s latest two singles below, along with all the details about their tour and forthcoming album. And if this got you in the mood for a little Midlake, watch their 2007 performance of “Young Bride” from Paste’s archives.

To Each His Own Album Art:

EBTheYoungerAlbumArt.png

To Each His Own Tracklist:
01. Used To Be
02. When The Time Comes
03. Clp
04. Down And Out
05. Don’t Forget Me
06. Out Of The Woods
07. Monterey
08. Hope Arrives
09. On An Island
10. A Matter Of Time
11. To Each His Own

E.B. The Younger Tour Dates:

January
30 – Leeds, U.K. @ O2 Academy *
31 – Gateshead, U.K. @ Sage Gateshead *

February
01 – Glasgow, U.K. @ Kings Theatre *
03 – Hull, U.K. @ Bonus Area *
04 – Liverpool, U.K. @ Philharmonic Hall *
05 – Nottingham, U.K. @ Rock City *
07 – Cambridge, U.K. @ Corn Exchange *
08 – Southampton, U.K. @ O2 Guildhall *
10 – Manchester, U.K. @ Albert Hall *
11 – Cardiff, U.K. @ St David’s Hall *

March
06 – New York, N.Y. @ Rockwood Music Hall
08 – Denton, Texas @ Andy’s Bar
09 – Dallas, Texas @ The Rustic

April
17- London, U.K. @ Oslo
19 – Edinburgh, U.K. @ The Mash House
20 – Dublin, Ireland @ Whelans

(* supporting John Grant)

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