LP – Standard Edition Black Vinyl. Includes Inner sleeve with full lyrics. Baby Man, the new album by Fruit Bats, is like nothing else in Grammy-nominated songwriter Eric D. Johnsons catalog. Little in the arc of his careerincluding Fruit Bats evolution from home recording project to rollicking roadshow, his solo output, and his work with Bonny Light Horsemanpoints the way to this album, in which his only accompaniment, aside from the occasional blush of synthesizer, is a guitar, banjo, or piano. Save for producer Thom Monahan, reuniting with Johnson for the first time since Fruit Bats 2019 breakthrough Gold Past Life, its just Johnson in the room, meaning that when the turntables needle meets Baby Mans groove, its just him and the listener, mutually in for a reckoning. Monahans return to the booth was vital: having mapped the outer limits of Eric D. Johnsons musical imagination, nobody was better equipped for the deepest trip yet into his soul. Baby Man is an intimate album, but rather than deliver a stripped-down or back-to-basics approach to the Fruit Bats sound, its introspection is rendered at epic scale. Its minimalist-maximalism, Johnson says of his and Monahans approach. There are fewer tracks on each song four or five at most compared to recent albums where thered maybe be five tracks on a song just for synthsbut this is me at my most hi-fi. What he and Monahan do to striking effect on Baby Man is explore the full power and range of his voice. Pushed forward in the mix, Johnsons vocalsa showstopping element of his craft have new purpose and depth on Baby Man, breathing life into some of the rawest songs hes ever written into being, actively finding the heart in the lyrics sometimes just hours after theyd been penned. A text sent to Monahan one morningIm just trying to write a couple more songslater becomes the first line of Puddle Jumper, a finger-picked heartbreaker whose only competition for the crown of Most Emotionally Devastating Fruit Bats Song is the other eight Johnson originals on this album. There are no Fruit Bats albums like Baby Man. None until this point have demanded this kind of attention. Its a linchpin in Johnsons career, one that not only opens Fruit Bats up to a thrilling future but recontextualizes his past, arguing that he is one of his generations great singer-songwriters and will be for some time to come. Tracklist: SIDE A1. Let You People Down2. Two Thousand Four3. Stuck in My Head Again4. Baby Man5. Creature From the Wild SIDE B1. Puddle Jumper2. First Girl I Loved3. Moons Too Bright4. Building a Cathedral5. Year of the Crow