• Courtesy
• Eben Schumacher, Restless Days

(Self-released, CD, digital)

Exploring contrasting themes across a record might seem like a risky endeavor, but one local musician has taken on the task with courage and imagination in his compelling debut album.

Burlington's Eben Schumacher spent the past five years writing the 10 songs that compose his first solo offering, Restless Days. The time he devoted to the project helped him refine it into an impressive, sprawling expedition in songwriting and a brutally honest examination of light and dark, what is lost and what remains.

Assisted by standout musicians from the region, Schumacher demonstrates his skills on guitar and keyboard. He wields his mesmerizing voice to juxtapose dream and reality, providing an alluring lens into the challenges of finding a healthy existence somewhere between those worlds.

The album's title track — one of its first singles — opens with Schumacher's own admission of what he finds himself up against: "I'm holding on to sorrow. I'm holding on to all my pain" is a clear indication that the songwriter is battling the past. As this treacherous, bluesy number rumbles along, the lyrics reveal the greater struggle at hand: "the devil's poison."

The album questions the blandness of wakefulness, sobriety and ordinary consciousness, and it uses different instrumental forms to pit truth against escapism. Illusory and reprieving, "Dancing With Foxes" drifts and ponders, blending natural sounds to effectively transport the listener from reality to fantasy.

Though the electric guitar blasts on the first couple of tracks, it gives way to soothing and tender acoustic picking on "Boga" before the hypnotic and ominous "Your Loving (Feels Like Rain)" reveals more of the stark facts that Schumacher struggles to accept across the album.

Joining Schumacher are numerous Vermont musicians, including drummer Cotter Ellis and bassist Alex Budney, who help give Restless Days its range and depth. Fiddler Jens Hybertson adds lush textures and captivating rhythms, while Marcie Hernandez shines as a backup vocalist. Hybertson and Hernandez are particularly incredible on "Marita," a fanciful mid-album departure with mariachi accents and Schumacher at his most amorous.

In "A Tiring Thing," another single from the record, he melodically spells out more of his mounting regrets: "What's there left to do when you know you've caused so much pain?" His aimless dejection meanders into a beautiful blend of the fiddle and his acoustic, and he poses the serious question as clear as day: "When can I get high? Sobriety has left me drained."

Schumacher has made appearances locally at Waking Windows and at more nationally known festivals such as South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Throughout this album, echoes of those who influenced him can be heard loud and clear — most notably Marcus King — as Schumacher shows he's honed his own rustic voice in addition to his abilities as a guitarist and keyboardist.

Several singles from Restless Days are available to stream now on Spotify, and the album, which was released in April, is available for purchase at ebenschumachermusic.com.