The song "Get Back My Way" by Eddie Cohn comes as a strong statement on the need to be creative in the face of life pulling us in many directions. The Los Angeles-based musician offers a song that is both very personal and very universal and it is a very strong return to his grunge-infused roots and an adoption of a more organic, stripped-down spirit.
The voice of Eddie is strong, and filled with heavy emotional undertones throughout, giving real sincerity to the theme of self-rediscovery and renewal. His performance is more about lived-in than acting and the listeners can instantly relate to him because they have experienced much of what he has. The singing shows a new confidence in his own voice as an artist.
The architecture of the song is brilliantly thought out, with a beginning of intimate acoustic movements and moving towards an overwhelming crescando. This movement reflects the influences cited by Eddie - of the stripped down work of Eddie Vedder, and the solo work of Chris Cornell. The arrangement with Brett Farkas on electric guitar, Dan Lutz on bass, Jake Reed on drums, and Phil Peterson on cello makes a very rich soundscape that is at once both delicate and vast.
The most resonant thing about this release is the underlying message of having a creative balance. The conflict between life interruptions and being authentic to oneself is so deeply relatable, as it deals with the perennial issue of prioritising what really feeds us as we are pressured by the outer world.
The quality of production, which is done remotely in studios in Los Angeles to Hawaii, does not feel disjointed. Rather, it demonstrates the potentials of modern recording and still retains an organic warmth that respects the 90s grunge roots of Eddie. Get Back My Way proves that Eddie is an artist who realises that time and patience are the best steps to the most genuine results. It is music about re-discovering yourself, and it was composed by a person who has obviously done just that.
