Balue’s Eli Thomas is a man at odds.
In many ways, the New Mexico-based solo act’s newest album Suburban Bliss shows what happens when a veteran musician – and new dad – tries to reconcile all the abrupt changes in his life. From one song to the next, Thomas bounces between comfort in his small-town suburban family life and questioning the decisions that led him there: the ebb and flow between excited and downtrodden evident in an eleven-song tracklist.
Set to be released through Lunar Ruins on August 23rd, Suburban Bliss is, above all else, an absolutely riotous listening experience. Through ambling psychedelics and thoughtfully thoughtless stream-of-consciousness musings, Balue evaluates cascading life changes over beds of surf reverb and flowing pads.
Written and recorded entirely at night between work and fatherhood and performed in its entirety by Thomas, this record would sound equally fitting in your car on a rural summer highway or on a late-night walk through dark city streets. Because, like its creator, the music is at odds with itself in a way that not only works, but is rewarding in its strangeness.
Today Glide is excited to premiere the video for “Gettin’ Older”, one of the standout tracks on the new album. Set to a soundtrack of drippy and dreamy psychedelic guitar, Eli Thomas goes on a lyrical search within himself as he ponders how to hold onto his identity as he gets older. It’s clear that even if he is “gettin’ older’, Thomas is still a cool guy, as evidenced by this laid back and infectious indie rock track.
Eli Thomas describes the inspiration for the song:
“I have real fears about growing up, aging, and loosing touch with my myself. I’ve accepted the fact that my body will age, my hair will recede, etc… but I’ve always pushed back against getting older mentally. Time ticks so fast, it scares me that I may wake up one morning completely out of touch with the art, activities and dreams that make me who I am.
Pete Holmes calls this ‘Sad Dad Syndrome’. ‘Gettin’ Older’ is a tune about embracing the small changes that have come my way the last few years, since embracing domesticity, and the give and take of letting some things go while embracing new things… I’m slowly realizing I can be open to getting older while clinging to the things that still make me feel cool.
WATCH:
One Response
That was awesome!! Definitely still cool!