Pluralone, the solo project of songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Josh Klinghoffer, returns with A Drop In The Ocean, his fourth album under the Pluralone name and the first since 2022’s This Is The Show. Best known for his work with Pearl Jam and the decade he spent as the guitarist in Red Hot Chili Peppers, Klinghoffer brings the same melodic sensibility and emotional directness that have defined his career to a more acoustic, songwriter-forward set that places vocals, lyrics, and intimate arrangements at the center. Writing on acoustic guitar, he felt he could regain some of the clarity that gets lost when working on songs for years at a time. Favoring warmth and immediacy over dense production, A Drop In The Ocean is a a focused and personal collection that highlights his strengths as a composer and arranger.
Klinghoffer recorded these songs at his own NowSpace and at Palmquist Studios in between high-profile stints for Pearl Jam, Elton John & Brandi Carlile, and Jane’s Addiction. He says, “My whole life has been about learning to enjoy the process rather than rushing to get to the result.” The album sees Klinghoffer expanding the world of Pluralone—he brought on past collaborator Eric Palmquist as a producer for the first time, and writer Chelsea Hodson sings backing vocals on a few songs. On the first single, “Peer Into Your Dreams,” a fragile folk-inspired pattern opens a disorienting meditation on perception and wandering inside someone else’s imagined world. On the second single, “Ranting and Raving,” soft electric guitar is layered with acoustic guitar and then soaring synths. One of the songs, “Give,” is anchored in Nashville tuning, a technique typically used for shimmer and texture rather than as a song’s foundation. This kind of unlikely decision adds up to a heightened sense of atmosphere, and the feeling that Klinghoffer is in new territory here, building a world distinctly his own. Loss is a central theme of the album: whether confronting grief on “I Hope You Knew” (quietly released on March 25, the anniversary of friend Taylor Hawkins’ passing), or anticipating heartbreak on “I Don’t Want to Let You Go.” The album’s closing track, “Sadly,” leaves intact an iPhone voice memo of Klinghoffer writing the song in real time. “I knew I’d never outdo the innocence of that moment,” he says.
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Label: ORG Music
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