Smoothboi Ezra - “Without Me”

SXSW 2022 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 5

Pairs Well With…Phoebe Bridgers, Claud, Japanese Breakfast

Emerging their sound from a bedroom rock foundation, Smoothboi Ezra takes reflective, melancholy material and finds ways to make it their own. Whether it’s in an unexpected alt-rock hook bursting the chorus of “Without Me”, the alt-country resonance of “You”, or the campfire-folk harmonies in “Palm of Your Hand”, Smoothboi Ezra twists their songs without losing the pure emotional connection their music explores. The Irish artist is an impactful songwriter even when just armed with a lo-fi acoustic, vulnerable and biting at times, highly personal yet clever in their approach. Smoothboi Ezra has been releasing singles since folksy 2018 debut “Thinking of You” culminating in 2021’s Stuck EP, the strongest set of their growing career by combining the rawness of their earliest material with more polished and focused songcraft. Smoothboi Ezra is an artist that clearly has the ability to create a full-length that is on everyone’s best-of lists at end of year, so get in early on this promising songwriter. (Kevin McStravick)