Album Review: Ezra Furman, Goodbye Small Head

The material on Ezra Furman’s latest album came about after the artist began “haemorrhaging songs” following an unexplained illness in early 2023.

The songs are explicitly about the act – and the art – of losing control. They move from psych-rock to art-pop to bossa nova to blues, all while Ezra tries to wrestle with a fragile mental state. ‘Sudden Storm’ simulates a mind shutting down due to overload, with lyrics that work as well on the page as they do on record: “The Lord keeps calling and my body’s not responding… The computer’s overloaded to the core in the brain…”

Throughout the record, the sharp lyrics direct the lens inward as Ezra searches, discovers, and then second-guesses herself. ‘Submission’ has the revealing lines “My enemies don’t need me but I need them”, while ‘I Need The Angel’ starts with the surreal and brilliant admission of the artist as a “hypnagogic terrorist.”

There’s a lot to love about this album, from the unnerving bossa nova groove of ‘Veil Song’ to the Smashing Pumpkins-style ‘Jump Out.’ At every turn, Ezra’s voice is showstoppingly good.

8/10

Out now