A deep bass, jangling beat and bright synths create an enlivening groove inspired by the Brazilian Carnival. He sings of falling and an extinguished flame, but the lyric “I love you” ushers in a riveting part two.
The first half is an acoustic ballad simultaneously infused with hope and melancholy: “The flame is gone / It’s over now / No one to blame, no / And there’s no fear now,” sings O’Brien, debuting his tender lead vocals. Lead single “Brasil” achieves this feat twice across its eight minute runtime. That’s the essence of “Earth”: reaching your purest self by getting lost in music, nature and the people around you. It’s impossible to pinpoint when it happens, but two-thirds of the way through each song, you’ll find yourself lost in the music, grooving in blissful ignorance of the world around you. Rather, each of these songs takes its time to develop a rich, immersive atmosphere that invariably sneaks up on you. There are no production tricks or sonic left-turns to speak of - that’s Jonny’s job. O’Brien, who now goes by EOB, demonstrates this beautifully on his debut solo record “Earth”.