Eric Schroeder is a San Deigo, USA-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist that’s just come to my attention thanks to his latest album release, Turned on the Stereo.

By Graeme Smith

Though still young, Eric has had a lot of growing up to do. Music has been his avenue of escape on many occasions and now he’s turned the personal into something to share with the world in his new album. Across ten tracks we are invited into his cynical yet humorous world of pop rock.

The album kicks off with Stayed The Same and we are at once treated to an arrangement that has as much oomph as it has edge. A jangly, cantering instrumental sets the tone before Eric’s drawling vocals come in, delivering dark, image-laden lyrics before we arrive at a soaring, cathartic chorus.

There’s really not much out there like what Eric is doing. It’s at once classic rock and folk while also treading its own path. The uniqueness of his sound is thoroughly absorbing as we shuffle through moments of lively self-reflection like Mother Said, soft, folksy melancholia in The Kind of Wound That Never Heals, moody indie rock in Never Go Away and waltzing release in Do Done.

Title track Turned on the Stereo provides a brooding classic rock highlight before Parting with My Wisdom closes the album with a Dylan-esque meditation.

Eric Schroeder is an artist entirely devoted to his craft and it shows in his latest album. It’s clear he’s not out to make a quick buck, but to really say something, and to push the boundaries of the many genres on which he touches. It’s rare to find a true innovator in a saturated music industry, but he is definitely one, and Turned on the Stereo is a contender for album of the year.

Turned on the Stereo was produced by Rob Schnapf. You can give it a listen below.