At the beginning of 2024, singer songwriter Ger Eaton shared a bold single, ‘Season Changes’, a lengthy recording that shared a pastoral sound, and blended influences from folk, prog and psychedelia to create something that sounded like the missing link between Nick Drake, Linda Perhacs and a mellow Scott Walker. He had the talent to meld those influences into something more of his own. Although the number probably couldn’t be called an “instant hit”, it had plenty of charm, with its sprawling nature aiming to appeal to the more adventurous ear. It had a grandness without self indulgence, so it was no wonder that he chose it as the lead and title cut from his full length release, which wouldn’t appear until over eighteen months later.

Ger’s current single, ‘I Thought I’d A Friend’ is a little simpler, and much shorter, but no less gorgeous. From the moment the track opens with finger picked acoustic guitars and a slightly cracked vocal, the folk-pop melody aims to tug at the heartstrings with an old school charm. It does this effectively enough, but its only with the arrival of swelling orchestration – providing a very definite nod to Nick Drake’s hugely influential ‘Five Leaves Left’ that the number truly springs to life. Against the strings, Eaton shares a broader vocal, allowing his partially whispered tones to grow into a full cry, evoking some clear early 70s influences, and more of a retro chamber pop tone than pure folk. This could honestly be one of those tracks that could’ve been written and recorded at any point over the previous thirty five years. And at the point where you might feel it’s got a little too safe, in keeping with ‘Season Changes’ wistful yet changeable nature, Eaton allows a steel guitar to cut through, adding a light Americana influence to his already broad selection of sounds.

The album ‘Seasons Change’ is available from Dimple Discs now. You can stream it on Bandcamp here. The video clip for ‘I Thought I’d A Friend’ can be watched below.