With a Seattle-based pedigree that includes stints in the post-grunge band Truly and dreamy power-poppers The Sterling Loons, Eamon Nordquist has recorded his first solo album under the name Eamon Ra. The seemingly random, punctuation-free album title, Meat Bones Chemicals Electricity, reflects Nordquist’s abstract thinking about human existence: We’re all nothing more than a combination of meat, bones, chemicals and electricity, he reasons, which makes everyone more alike than different. With that as his premise, the native Irishman bounces through nine jangly, psychedelic folk-pop songs in about 28 minutes. Heavily influenced by The Zombies, The Byrds, The Kinks and The Beatles, Nordquist plays everything but drums—including guitar, bass and Mellotron. His pretty voice summons comparisons to Robin Zander and Robyn Hitchcock, and the bright melodies shine through even on cold and dark days.
