“Gorgeous... From a tradition of unnervingly confidential, light-voiced male singers: João Gilberto, Arthur Russell, Lou Barlow of Sebadoh, Elliott Smith, Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu.” Gushed the New York Times over Yosemite-come-Orange County resident Eric Lindley A.K.A. Careful. And it's not entirely hard to see where those ambitious comparisons have sprung from, as Careful's music is highly literal to his name, but not in an unadventurous way, rather a more delicately precise approach to songcraft.
When discussing this track, Careful is certainly not a word one might use as opposed to the more introspective acoustic affair that was his 2010 album 'Oh, Light', new track 'It's Funny' revels in the ever controversial autotune. The track features more restrained acoustic guitars juxtapositioned with Lindley's delicate voice, quivering electronically up and down, and is one of those few instances where the use of autotune works perfectly as a form of sheer artistry rather than the cheap gimmick many see it as (Thanks for nothing T-Pain and Black Eyed Peas) In fact, a rather obvious comparison to the track is with the newer works of Sufjan Stevens, with the electronic Age Of Adz style direction or even Sufjan's contributions to the recent S/S/S 'Beak and Claw' EP which saw a further embrace of autotune. But comparisons aside, this is interesting stuff with some clear emotion behind it and Careful's new record 'Because I Am Always Talking' looks set to be a treat.
Toby McCarron
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