A pop-rock ballad from start to finish

From acoustic guitar to a full-on band jam, Effluxion comes in waves during its 29-minute run. The fifth album from Michael Benjamin Lerner is a toe-tapper from the start. Following his synth-heavy 2015 release, Ad Infinitum, the Seattle singer-songwriter produced Effluxion himself and follows a pattern of power-pop anthems throughout the album.

After taking a year to tour with Scottish indie-rock band Teenage Fanclub, Lerner took the time to create a piece from the deepest parts of himself. Older and wiser, Lerner made sure each of the ten tracks posess a different element of music to make it seem like it could stand on its own. “Cut The Quick” and “Like Nothing” both share a Beatles-esque feeling paired with a ’60s surf-pop vibe. “Effluxion” and “Set a Course” are both ocean waves of tempo sliding from the slow and steady right into big-band vibes. “Feel It In Your Bones” takes the listener on a journey through love and space.

Tracks like “How Do I Get Rid Of Sunlight” and “Suburban Streetlight Drunk” feel both recognizable and personal at the same time. On more of the heavy rocker side, “A Place In The Sun” takes pop punk to new heights. Though the song has a heavier guitar, the lyrics are a bit soft, “Running around / Still looking out for you / Unmarked streets I feel like I’m going through.” What each track has in common, though, is that Lerner makes it clear that the guitar is the center of this album and not electronica.

Effluxion is Latin for “flowing” and that is exactly what Lerner did with each and every track. From musical highs to lows, Lerner has taken his decade of music making to create an honest album that combines all of the keynotes he has collected along the way. Effluxion is an enjoyable, catchy, eclectic assortment of songs who all seemed to find a home together under one creative roof.