Nestled in the old pine forests Bordeaux and biarritz, south france, howard rekindles his experimental fire with fifth album. Along with it – came about a near-death experience.
Rooted in earnest folk, Howard never felt comfortable with the success his second album brought him. Hemmed into these expectations from both industry and fanbase to chart the same two-tone “mainstream” albums, Howard felt creatively restless. Instead, took a decisive direction to do the polar opposite. Recent albums have shown Howard try to shake loose of these expectations. Less overthinking, and more just feeling loose and breezy over the whole affair. Striking chords with fellow National comrade Dressner, brought a nonchalant vigor to his most recent second-number one Collections From The Whiteout, which without realising, was exactly what the doctor had ordered.
Gone were the mechanised spirits of marketing moguls and here were the care-free spirits embracing the fact that he was just making music he enjoyed making. Funnily enough, that seemed to work ten-fold with his fans, too.
However, a seemingly linear songwriting session soon went south when without warning, the singer-songwriter lost his ability to speak. Turns out that Howard suffered two transient ischaemic attacks, better known as mini-strokes to us. This “before-and-after moment” where he actually thought he wouldn’t be able to write music any more, soon shaped the profound curvatures, seismic waves and glitchy progs we hear on his fifth – Is It?
When you listen to Is It? you soon start to realise that it’s not the old pine we grew up with on Every Kingdoms, nor is it the same forest it resides in. The warm acoustics taking a well-deserved to the more manipulated electronics and inventive soundscapes of an fully-fledged experimental album. Despite the album bringing the whole “what does this button do” idea to the fray, it is surprisingly expertly crafted. A reinventing of a former musician seemingly boxed in, this is Howard himself: one of a kind.
And of course, when you look into the meaning behind the album, there’s a reason as to why these choices were made. To get a better sense of the idea, your best bet is to look over Total Eclipse. A 90-second interlude earmarked with broken fragments of speech and abstract sounds, it’s a visibly uncomfortable moment to listen to. And I suppose through it all, that’s the point of it. Even the album title offers little sense, a question posing far too answers.
A true recreation of the feeling of the experience itself, it’s an album locked in that very moment. And while there are specks of death and sadness across the album, it’s more a savouring of life and love, as opposed to looking at the meek offerings Ben draws up on I Forget Where We Were. A dark, distortion of heavy subjects.
Perhaps Couldn’t Make It Up is a literal reflection of the experience itself, too – strangeness passing deep inside me now – as the glitchy drum samples and tetchy guitar pickings resembling a scrambled brain undergoing a mini-stroke. Walking Backwards is equally a highly-strung, highly emotive display of catharsis as Howard outwardly accepts that “some days, I’m walking backwards / Truth be told, I don’t mind” – he survived near-death after all.
Days of Lantana and Moonraker are two contrasting figureheads as Days… embraces the fact that our days are in fact numbered, while Moonraker is an enchantment under the sea – a true Hallelujah a life. While the electronics offer much bewilderment to Howards’ mad scientist phase (helped by DJ-producer Bullion), the glitchy samples do become patchy in part. Which I assume, is part of it all. The 10-track catalogue ends with Little Plant, a light pouring of acoustics, soft piano and orchestral swells that ultimately bring us full circle to Howards’ original frontline of feathery folk.
As would luck would have it, Ben Howard is actually performing t this years’ Glastonbury Festival tomorrow. If you’re there, we’ll see you in the fields!
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