This is a re-issue from as long ago as 2017 when Eric Slick put out his second album Palisades, this is the first time It's been on vinyl. Eric Slick is from Philadelphia and is best known as the drummer on Taylor Swifts You All Over Me and for his band Dr Dog. As well as playing drums with R. Stevie Moore, Nels Cline and Ween.
The opening song You Became The Light fair bursts out of the speakers at you, urgent and in your face, solid repetitive drum pattern and guitar indie, with keening vocals as Eric explains how You Became The Light as the effects come in to make sure he gets his point across as to how special you are.
The Dirge is as you would expect slower but not too dirge like, musically it sounds like it started out as a power pop song and they then did everything they could to rid it of too many pop edges, although the vocals are far more Divine Comedy or like a male equivalent of Carol Bayer Sager.
No sounds like a cross between Chris Issak and Chris Spedding, it has a noir Rock & Roll feel to it, but with odd synth effects beneath the more traditional aspects.
Slow Burn is as suggested slow and a bit ponderous bass heavy with lots of bass drum and some strings that add a sense of tension as you wonder exactly what's going on across the great divide.
The B-side opens with the title track Palisades a slow thoughtful piece that feels like it's based on a piece of classical music that's being played on guitars and synths to re-make it, as he sings about the Palisades.
You Are Not Your Mind is sensible advice to give anyone in crisis and this has some oddly placed percussion and synths against the strings and other stuff going on to end up having an odd introspective soundtrack feel to it.
Evergreen is full of portentous strings and high vocals trying to find their way out of a nightmare with fairground noises and a sense of odd dislocation.
The album closes with Into The Void that opens with the drums almost beating the retreat before the oddly bucolic backing takes us on a journey deep Into The Void that hopefully we are emerging from once again, the strings swell and make this sound quite hopeful of redemption.
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