The Guardian introduces us to Tyler Ballgame – this is the title track from his first album, which was released last month:
"Not long after his first trip to London, a video of him performing live at a Los Angeles bar called the Fable began circulating online. By the time he came back to the UK to perform at Brighton industry showcase the Great Escape, he had signed to Rough Trade. Critical hosannas began raining down on Ballgame: he has variously been compared to Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, Jim Morrison and Tim Buckley."
And there's more:
He also turned out to be catnip for what’s left of the music press, an interviewee with a penchant for the hippy-friendly philosophy of Alan Watts and an intriguing backstory. A Berklee College of Music dropout who spent years sequestered in his parents’ basement, struggling with depression and a gargantuan appetite for marijuana, he underwent a “spiritual awakening” thanks to the work of German self-help guru Eckhart Tolle – also beloved of Kendrick Lamar – and the intervention of a dietician and counsellor called Courtney Huard, who was subsequently murdered by her husband.
Who are all these people?
Moreover, he announced, Tyler Ballgame wasn’t just a stage name, it was a persona the former Tyler Perry had invented, drawing on his background in drama: playing the part of an “idealised frontman from the 60s and 70s” gave him “the licence to show more” of himself.
As to his music, Ballgame has been compared to a lot of other singers – Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, Jim Morrison and Tim Buckley. You can hear some of those influences here.
He's hardly the first artist to be derivative, but would it be a huge surprise if Ballgame turned out to have been generated by AI?
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