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No Defenses

by Eric Harrison

/
1.
Undertow 03:35
2.
Unrung 03:06
3.
Melody 04:14
4.
5.
6.
Somerset 02:39
7.
Astor Place 05:19
8.
Relay Road 04:39
9.
10.
11.
12.
Shadows 04:37
13.
The Ending 03:34
14.
No Defenses 04:05
15.
Intro DEmGA DGD DA GAD (D7) Lying in bed All scroll and regret Every offer she’ll parry Is just one more ploy she’s gonna see through Time’s not a friend Clarity never calls All she knows are these four walls She could walk right outside She knows she doesn’t need to GDF#G If the train truly has left the station Tell me why do we still hang around? GD GBm GAD Maybe it’s time to forgive the last guy My Gloria glory bound DGD DA GAD (D7) Youth is pretty But beauty ain’t truth She confuses them nightly Ingenue in a city of sin get behind me Then she starts to doubt And wish it away She’s got nothing to hold here Tell that boy back in school His betrayal won’t bind me GDF#G A warm blanket of sunlight Was no match for a blast of cold air GD GBm GAD Don’t you think that it’s time to cut one more tie? My Gloria in despair [Bridge] GAD-D7 It’s a petrified forest And you’re scared to death GAF#Bm Flying home over paradise You look down and see nothing left GADBm You think you’ve run out of runway Till luck lends a hand EmF#mA Beyond this darkness A safe place to land [Inst] DGD DA GAD (D7) GDF#G Though a storm is still raging We can find solid ground GD GBm GAD The time has arrived to touch down and try My Gloria glory bound My Gloria glory bound

about

Welcome to my sixth and best full length album!

If there’s any unifying theme to be found among these songs it’s the wisdom of accepting the inevitable while still fighting the forces that feed off each other to drive us apart. Technology, tribalism, truth decay . . . their ascent makes meaningful human connection both harder to achieve and more urgently needed.

The album begins with a defiant response to an early Suzanne Vega ode to desire. What does a force of nature become when her greatest ally is betrayed by a simple twist of fate?

“Undertow” attempts to answer that question with a call to arms against hopelessness. We had no choice but to kick off the album with this track, as nothing screams “smash hit” louder than a T.S. Eliot or D.H. Lawrence reference . . . right?! (I know, I know . . . I won’t quit my day job.)

All 14 of these tracks were written in New Jersey and recorded by the great Kevin Salem in Woodstock between 2020 and 2022 - except for “Somerset,” a gem that Kevin hatched on his own and honored me to dress up with some new lyrics and vocals.

Each of these songs means a lot to me. And while I will save the track by track analysis for the deluxe reissue in 2040, I feel obliged to add a few words about the final track in hopes of enticing those kindred travelers who may be inclined to engage the full itinerary as intended:

“No Defenses” docks the album at a proudly blonde-on-blonde port of call to cop to some venal sins of the heart in suburbia. Our narrator testifies that he’s seen the Rapture coming! Then he cleans his lenses . . . only to discover that . . . midlife catharsis can deliver some clarity and joy.

That’s about where I am these days, and I hope you’ll remain with me for the duration.

Love, Eric

credits

released March 3, 2023

Words and Music (c) 2021 and 2022 Eric Harrison (BMI) except “Somerset” - Words and Music (c) 2022 Kevin Salem (Van Rier Music, BMI) and Eric Harrison (BMI)

Background vocals by Tabitha Fair on “The Ending” and Kevin Salem on “Somerset”

All Drums/Guitars/Bass/Keyboards by Kevin Salem except:

Rich Mercurio: Drums on “The Fundament”

Nadia DiGiallonardo: Piano on “The Fundament”

Michael Arrom: Organ on “Undertow” and piano on “No Defenses”

Max Abrams: Horn arrangement, tenor and soprano sax on “No Defenses”

Steve Patrick: trumpet and trombone on “No Defenses”

Neil Konouchi: tuba on “No Defenses”

Tracy Bonham: Fiddle on “No Defenses”

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all rights reserved

tags

about

Eric Harrison Fanwood, New Jersey

Eric Harrison is a New Jersey-based singer-songwriter whose fifth album, "Gratitude," was released in November 2020. In 2021 he released the five-song EP "Good Intentions” and in 2022 he released “Dear John," a five-song EP of originals inspired by the late great John Prine.

In 2023 Eric released the double album “No Defenses." In 2024 he'll release a new single each month, followed by another LP
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