UK group Mr Ben & The Bens will release new album “Life Drawing” on July 12th via Bella Union Records. Bandleader Ben Hall says of new this widescreen folk-rock track (which might appeal to fans of Beirut or Pete & The Pirates) it reminded me of the Kinks or the Leisure Society, “‘Watering Can’ is a gently-swaying brassy ode to small town life. I took up gardening recently as our band obtained an allotment and I loved the image of a watering can becoming a metaphor for good intentions. Lyrically the track deals with the themes of lost love, claustrophobia and aspirational dreams that somehow never seem to be realised. The song is the finale of the new album and I wanted it to be that very specific combination of uplifting melancholy.”
‘Life Drawing” will be for Mr Ben & The Bens the occasion for a real change of scale, We will study with all the more interest the rest of the journey of this engaging project, which seems poised to succeed in an unexpected and promising synthesis between the indie classicism of Belle & Sebastian, the eccentricity of the Welsh school (Cate Le Bon, Euros Childs)
‘As woodwind, brass, and twilight-hued acoustic guitars shuffle along, its apparent that Mr Ben & The Bens have a knack for making anything and everything sound delightful… even wistful swathes of melancholy.’
The track is now available online.
The Fat Angel Sings 