Eric Hirshberg finds clarity in the quiet on “More Is Not The Answer”
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Newsdesk
Eric Hirshberg’s recent run of releases has carried a clear throughline, but his new single “More Is Not The Answer” feels like a moment where that thread tightens into something more focused. Arriving after the attention surrounding “For Real,” his collaboration with Aloe Blacc, the new track steps away from external commentary and turns inward.
The song comes out of a specific and unsettling experience. Hirshberg wrote it in the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires, when he and his family were forced to pack up and leave with little notice. That kind of situation has a way of stripping away abstraction, and you can hear that in the writing. The lyrics don’t reach for grand statements. They stay close to the ground, rooted in what someone might actually think in that moment.
What stands out is how restrained the song is. There’s a temptation with material like this to push toward drama, but Hirshberg holds back. Lines like “If we had lost this in the fire, I wouldn’t want it again” land because they feel considered rather than performed. The song circles around the idea that desire can mislead, and it lets that idea settle without over-explaining it.
Musically, the track continues the balance he has been working toward. There’s a cinematic quality to the arrangement, but it never overwhelms the vocal. The production supports the song’s emotional center rather than competing with it, which keeps the focus where it belongs.
The accompanying video follows a similar approach. It doesn’t try to recreate the scale of the events that inspired the song. Instead, it leans into a quieter visual language that mirrors the introspective tone of the track. It’s a choice that fits the material.
Taken alongside “For Real” and “We’re All In This Alone,” this new single helps clarify what Hirshberg is building toward with his upcoming album, More Is Not The Answer. The earlier songs looked at connection through a broader lens. This one narrows the frame and asks what remains when those larger systems fall away.
There’s still a sense that Hirshberg is working through these ideas in real time, which gives the project some openness. “More Is Not The Answer” doesn’t resolve the questions it raises, but it doesn’t need to. It holds on to the uncertainty, and that’s where it finds its weight.
