Marcus Eaton
Marcus Eaton is ambitious in a way musicians ought to be.
He spent 40 days laying down tracks at The Tonic Room in Boise. Drummers flew in from out of state. A Vocals coach coaxed his singing to new heights. Eaton experimented with exotic insturments. Eventually, a Grammy-nominated engineer mastered the songs.
The gorgeous-sounding result, which Eaton is pre-selling at his Web site prior to a larger distribution, solidifes this 26-year-old as a singer, songwriter and guitarist to be reckoned with on a national scale.
Eaton’s third album begs for high-end speakers. Or at least $100 headphones. Intricate acoustic guitar melodies, hip-pocket bass and subtle percussion enrich the sonics. Waves of electric guitar balance the strum of the cathartic opening track “Candle To The Sun.” Sitar blossoms on multiple songs, lushly permeating the textured love ballad “Four Seasons Turn To Rain.”
Backed by crack musicians including Garrett Sayers (bass, The Motet), Derico Watson (drums, Victor Wooten Band) and Kyle Aho (piano). Eaton blissfully annihilates anything he did with his former band, The Lobby. This music will appeal to fans of Dave Matthews, Howie Day or John Mayer. But compared with those musicians, Eaton is unapologetically challenging. Most songs are five minutes or longer. Bone-snapping time signatures are the norm; verses of Latin-influenced “Burn It Down” are performed in 13/8.
There is no obvious, lightweight radio single. Yet “Disposable” is anything but: It’s a Police-like rocker with a chorus that lingers and lyrics that cut. (Throw your words around as if they were weapons/Look out, one of them may ricochet!” Eaton vents with a silky snarl.) Comparing Eaton to Sting may seem like a stretch. But, Eaton possesses a similarly smooth, open-armed quality. He transforms math-rock into approachable adult pop.
“Standing Still” glides like Seal’s transcendent moments. It displays Eaton’s multiple guitar personalities, as well as his vocal development. An increasingly commanding singer, Eaton showcases a soulful falsetto on the love-addidcted funk track “Drug.” Romance and relationships are common themes, but Eaton also tackles politics: “With a leader who cannot lead/Take control of yourselves/That’s when you’ll succeed,” he sings on the title track, which dissipates into a psychedelic guitar coda.
Eaton’s intensity can become exhausting. Dude is heavy. By the time you reach the seven-minute finale, “End This War,” you’re craving a bit of pop fluff to rest your head on. But realize that “Story of Now” is a subplot in Eaton’s career…an early subplot. With a self-produced gem like this to build upon, future Eaton chapters could border on master works.
