Surface Contradictions by John Hernandez and Empty Heaven

Music video for Not the Coffee!:
https://youtu.be/_xtCX-Lc68E?si=HXyNkW6na18zW7OM

As I sit here in my local bar after a particularly easy day, my bartender is flipping through records and lands on some random country record. Images of tumbleweed, horseback riders, twanging guitars come to mind while I sip on my cheap ass beer. The bar is close to empty, save for me, a trio of middle-aged folk talking about photography, and a quiet woman reading in the corner.

George Jones “Color of the Blues” comes through the speakers and I’m reminded of a few people I need to check on. It’s Thanksgiving week and it’s been a pretty rough month for a lot of folk I know, so the tune is fitting. As much as I’ve been a recluse in recent weeks, I think that it’s time to tie those friendship laces a bit tighter for the coming winter run of December through March.

One such friend is John Hernandez. I met John during the pandemic, via Instagram, and we became pretty fast friends. We talk about his lovely family, my terrible dating life, and the looming ills of the world. You know, real friend shit. John’s family is from the Texas region, and though, at the time of this writing, I’ve not had the opportunity to visit, he paints a pretty frank picture of San Antonio, his Mexican American heritage, and balancing being a family man and a musician.

Enter Surface Contradictions, the less than 20 minutes EP by John Hernandez & Empty Heaven. While I’d heard bits and pieces of John’s music over the years, I’d not been familiar with our new friend Empty Heaven, so I was excited to jump into this fresh offering.

The project opens with “Flimsy Ideas”, with floating keys, light guitar work, surrounded by buzzing synths. After a quick fade “Swerve” drops in. The bouncy rhythm reminds me of a walk through the South Side of Chicago on a hot, yet breezy summers day. Suddenly the bouncing stops and a gentle melancholic passage begins to sway to and fro. I guess I didn’t know it was going to drizzle that day…

The muliti-layered inhaling and exhaling “Blithe” is a standout interlude which could have easily picked for the intro or outro of this collection and rolls perfectly into “Jot This Down” (in my head this piece plays as the first single of the EP).

“Jot This Down” starts off with a guitar riff with light piano stabs behind it. Some light brushwork and swirling guitars promenade around before the tune quickly jumps into “Not The Coffee”. The moog and cymbal-izing drive the track in it’s entirely, giving images of a tired parent frustrated that they forgot to get the necessary beverage on the previous evening’s grocery run.

“The Accumulation of Every Tiny Thing” is a witty interlude with doubled voices talking about stuff I can’t make out before a small explosion burst into a sudden stop making room for “Wellspring” (the longest and, in my opinion, prettiest piece on the project).

While Surface Contradictions may be short in length, it’s definitely big in emotional. What John and Empty Heaven have created is a tight snapshot of something that we all need to be reminded of… the importance and beauty of friendship.

Gabriel Jermaine Vanlandingham-Dunn
(Brooklyn, NY November 2024)

Artist from San Antonio, Tx focused on guitar driven music in a variety of lenses.

sacurrent.com
sacurrent.com