Ben Howard is pumping out new music, and he’s mixed up his regimen, letting outside musical influence into his inner circle. The result: his most intentional, genre-bending album to date.
The first thing you need to know about his 2021 album, ‘Collections From The Whiteout’, is that it was produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner, which seems to be the perfect match for big Ben.
As you journey through this, his fourth LP, you might find yourself smitten by his charismatic lyricism and simultaneously enamored by the dense layers of tactical instrumentation. Let’s touch down on a few of these tracks; I hope you listen along with me.
1. Follies Fixture
This must be Ben or his long-time guitarist Mickey Smith just absolutely shredding an electric tapping lick for the first three minutes of the intro track. The swirling guitar eventually gives way to an acoustic strum, as Ben’s vocals simplify into a peaceful hook: “Every sight of you, I know, is worth the keeping”.
I find myself quite easily disarmed by these ethereal guitar runs combined with Howard’s transcendent vocal additions. Acoustic strumming builds with piercing electric layers, and then the electric runs fade out as acoustic and vocals remain—with strange ambient instrumental ring-outs.
It’s safe to say that Dessner’s influence is noticeable right from the get-go; at first glance, the production style certainly emulates many compositions from his project, The National, based out of Brooklyn, NY.
2. What A Day
I have one simple way of describing this track; it sounds like Howard was the featured vocalist on a 2007 Iron & Wine unreleased bonus track.
The carefully selected snare/shaker sample is what brings a new, authentic aesthetic to this otherwise predictably-crafted release.
This is an audience-grabber, and a fine tune, even if it is slightly off-colour in comparison to Ben’s previous work. A beautiful guitar solo rounds out this five-minute epic.
3. Crowhurst’s Meme
It is very obvious why this was one of his first two releases from the album, and an interesting side-note to this tune: Ben wrote it after learning of Donald Crowhurst, who cheated at the 1968 Golden Globe yacht race, and then went on to commit suicide instead of admitting to his crime.
Howard and co. are taking us a new direction, as we hear drumming that we are not used to hearing in a Ben Howard song. And yet, it works so well with his newly adapted approach to electric guitar, which is hella grungy at times, with distortion thickening up the tones—dare I say this guitar has a Hozier vibe to it?
The chorus guitar is much cleaner, and a Rhodes keyboard patch whirls into the mix. The guitar/vocal parallels work incredibly well in the second verse, and then we hear another seamless transition into the chorus.
“When I wake up, arms around you // When I wake up, I’m a long way out.” There is an extremely ponderous and relatable sentiment captured in these lyrics that we find repeated during the chorus of this dark and gorgeous tune.
4. Finders Keepers
This is another ambient take. I’m sure you’re starting to notice a theme developing between this and track one; and if you’re curious about what led Howard to these new atmospheric soundscapes, the moment he decided to start writing this album was during a long drive through Portugal, crossing the river Tagus, while listening to a 17-minute journey of a song entitled ‘Santa Agnes’, written and recorded on a side-project by Aaron and his brother Bryce Dessner (both members of The National). Their authentic, calming approach must have enlightened Ben, and thus began his road to another multi-sensory masterpiece.
Rambling electric guitar tones shudder beneath a classic despondent B-How vocal delivery. Guitars begin to take visible form, with off-beat swings found among the countless, staggering notes. Deeply expressive, multi-octave melodies swoon in, and then the song seems to deteriorate into thin air before it can surmount the intentional musical confusion.
It turns out this track in particular was written about a dismembered body packed into a suitcase, floating down the river Thames, to be discovered by Ben’s father’s friend—that explains the magnificent madness portrayed in the choices of sound and structure.
The lyrics, “What’s that in the river, that floating thing?” and “Finding things I should never have seen” are dead giveaways—no pun intended. When asked about his approach on the new album, he stated, “I feel quite happy to explore weird ideas. If I want to write a song about a body that’s found in the river, then that’s alright.”
5. Far Out
I bust (a move—obviously)every time I listen to this track.
Notice those extremely smooth bass guitar runs and progressions that bring the track to full speed instantly? Yeah, I thought you did… Howard’s vocal delivery has never sounded so focused and precise, and that filthy bass just caresses the mid-to-low registers with tasteful slides and hammer-on’s throughout the track.
The chorus dips carefully into a new root note, but not in a disruptive way. The gang at Republic Records took a refreshing, crisp approach to ‘Far Out’, and just when you thought the song couldn’t get any cooler, de-tuned drums and distortions in the waveforms bring the song to a violent and unique conclusion.
8. Sage That She Was Burning
I cannot emphasize enough just how unpredictable and out-of-character this album has revealed itself to be—and that is not a criticism at all; I am in love with the album. And this beat, oh shit, don’t get me started on this beat!
I heard that the session drummer whom Dessner brought into the studio for this project is one of the UK’s deadliest young producers/drummers. His name—as any familiars of Western Europe’s jazz scene might guess—is Yussef Dayes, and his drum accompaniment slaps some serious skin in ‘Sage That She Was Burning’—a distinct turning point of the LP.
There is a surreal vibe to the intro, as unmistakeable momentum is built during the first 1:30. Naturally, an auditory clearing is formed by a minimalistic bridge, as beautiful background vocals capture harmony nuances of an inspired mind.
I must say there is an incredibly high production value to this song, and I am thusly very glad that Ben decided to let a different-styled producer into the project, because what they’ve captured here has a Postal Service aesthetic to it, with some ‘Sleep Well Beast’ energies lingering in the underbrush (you die-hard National fans will appreciate that comparison).
Ten out of ten on this one, fellas. Hats off.
9. Sorry Kid
I would venture to say that Yussef Dayes had a hand in the drum composition of this intricate beat as well, although it is important to note that producer Aaron Dessner also involved James Krivchenia, the drummer from Big Thief—it could be him.
Additionally, Ben’s electric chord progression is tastefully unique, and the tone/note selections are undoubtedly lavish. Perhaps there was some co-writing and vocal accompaniment from Kate Stables—known for her Paris-based songwriting project, This Is The Kit—who was wisely curated by Dessner as a session musician for this record.
The breakdown at the 3:00 mark takes us in a new direction with a pretty intense mood change, but the drumming stays constant, until it doesn’t. We hear a nice development in the drum pattern and sample selection; it seems that live snare hits combine with the electronic drum samples for the majority of the second half, and the selections work so well together.
Here, Howard continues to develop his partial concept album, as this tune was written about Anna Sorokin, a Russian national who was imprisoned in America for posing as a wealthy socialite, amassing $270,000 in debt while she was at it; “Fake it … take the cash and all the jewels … the world was made for only you”, croons Ben in the first verse; “What a girl to take it”, rings the outro hook.
Ben originally set out to make the entire record a concept album, but he mixed in a lot of his own perspectives; “…songs end up being partly about yourself, partly about someone else. It’s sort of an amalgamation … I wanted to write a concept record, but I got distracted”. Lmao.
13. The Strange Last Flight Of Richard Russell
I would consider this to be a most acceptable book-end to this magical record. I can’t say enough good things about ‘Collections From The Whiteout’; and I was so, so pleased to discover that the crew selected a classic Ben Howard lens to shoot this track through.
I say that because it contains elements that Howard has embodied in his previous works; most notably, the guitar effects remind me of ‘End Of The Affair’ and ‘Conrad’ from his 2014 sophomore record, ‘I Forget Where We Were’. Those songs, combined with the rest of the ten-track record, reverberated an emphatic outpouring of emotions, solidifying B-How as one of this century’s most inspired solo songwriters.
If you don’t know those songs already, run them once you’ve finished ‘The Strange Last Flight Of Richard Russell’ and tell me I’m wrong. They are bringing the vibe back, but with a refreshed attitude. Listen for those tantalizing violin harmonies layered in from 2:51 to 3:23 and you’ll know what I mean.
This is another example of outer influences eclipsing Howard’s inner writing sphere; and it is most assuredly to the credit of another methodically selected session musician: Bon Iver’s go-to string arranger, Rob Moose.
As you might have guessed, this is another track written about someone else’s experience in the world. He crafted this track around the life of a Seattle-Tacoma Airport employee who legit stole a plane (!) in 2018 and crashed it into an island one hour after take-off. No one other than the maniac pilot was killed in the crash, luckily.
In anticipation of this album’s release, Ben opened up about his new-found process, reflecting: “I feel comfortable at the moment in terms of finally understanding what I do. Before I was just exploring things and not understanding what I did as a songwriter and not having any composure with it … Now I feel more confident of being able to run with ideas.”
In my humble opinion, this is what being an artist is all about: molding a precise piece of self-expression in physical form. In this case, there were two primary sculptors: B. Howard, the creator, and A. Dessner, the visionary.
When asked about working with Howard, Dessner reflected on the process: “I was quickly fascinated by what Benwas doing and the state he was in. It was a good collision of openness … Like moments where the rain is hitting the roof when he is playing ‘Rookery’ … He’s making some of his most adventurous music and also writing some of his best songs at the same time”.
I wish you could hear the patter of the rain in the recording, but I guess it’s the type of thing where, in the words of Sublime’s Bradley Nowell, “You had to be there.”
0 Comments