E. LUNDQUIST Art Between Minds LP

There are numerous stages of evolution in an artist’s career. What inspires their first song, won’t be what drives them at their prime. For many, Hip-Hop is a gateway music that turns them on to the endless genres it samples and borrows from. So, it should come as no surprise that LA-based composer/arranger E. Lundquist (aka Eric Borders) started out in a Hip-Hop band called Balance And The Traveling Sounds. While BTS built up a decent following in the mid-2010s, they split up before achieving commercial success. As Eric explains, “After BTS broke up I really wasn't sure if I was going to ever make music again. I think I put a lot of pressure on myself at the end and the music sort of became less fun.”

Of course, he did make music again and put it out under the colourful moniker Captain Supernova. The cosmic jazz-funk he released during this stage in his musical journey was a departure from what he had done with BTS. “The music was supposed to be the soundtrack to the character Captain Supernova, who was trapped in space after a voyage went wrong and he was sending messages back down to Earth,” says Eric. In 2014 he dropped “Visions of the Unknown,” the first collection of these “messages.” The independent release established his sound as a solo artist.

By 2016 he had linked with LA veteran Vitamin D and his label Cold Busted for a project titled “Doors of Perception,” which leaned even harder into spaced-out jazz-fusion. Only a few short years later he ended up being mentored by Mark de Clive Lowe. The Kiwi icon brought Eric and his album “The Voyage Never Ends” to Ropeadope Records, who released the record in 2019. The offering saw Eric refine his sound with the help of MDCL and a handful of top-tier musicians. The LP was also a hint of what was to come, as he was clearly starting to move in a new direction.

The music he made next didn’t fit his funky spaceman persona, so Eric retired the Captain Supernova alias. Instead, he reclaimed the family name of his paternal grandfather and went with his first initial rather than full name so that it would read like a composer credit on a KPM record: E. Lundquist. And the cinematic yet experimental feel of a KPM or Bruton library record is exactly what he was shooting for on his KU debut, “Multiple Images.” The 11-song instrumental affair leaves no doubt that Eric has taken the next step on his musical path.

Now, while “Multiple Images” only dropped last year, Eric is already back with another ample helping of his hallucinogenic sonics. The project is titled “Art Between Minds” and it finds him utilizing a bevy of vintage gear to replicate that warm glow of ’70s jazz-funk. From the Fender Rhodes MKI to the ARP Odyssey, to the Mellotron, the keys and synths E employs on these tracks display a genuine appreciation for the groove-driven music of The Me Decade.

The album plays like the score to a cult classic B-movie. For example, the sun-drenched haze of “Soliloquy” could easily be what you hear during the calm before the storm in a Blaxploitation flick. And the laidback crawl of “Euphoria” seems ripped right out of a fuzzy ‘70s blue movie. Having said all that, there is a certain sophistication here. Like the way the horn section, slinky guitar, and trippy synths combine on “Escape” to sound like liquid one moment and like a summer breeze the next.

While E. Lundquist’s artistry will eventually take him to new plateaus of sound, where he is right now is undoubtedly a high watermark in his career. He has become a torchbearer for jazz-funk in a new era, updating the sub-genre with his delicate balance of digital and analog elements.

1. Between Minds 02:57
2. Soliloquy 03:15
3. My Sun 03:59
4. Euphoria 03:00
5. Persuasive 02:38
6. Crucifixion 04:11
7. Last Dance 00:56
8. Elements 02:28
9. Holy Mountain 02:20
10. Escape 04:57