E-mail
Print
Ben Folds redefining normal with new album
By Gabriella Jacobsen
“In his solo career, Folds croons out heavier tunes, yet maintaining the off-beat lyrics and continuous piano melodies.”
Ben Folds has just released his latest album, Way to Normal, still following his own defined version of “normal”. The 42 year old released the piano and guitar infused album to the public on September 30th, for which the store-released version consisted of twelve full length songs; the iTunes release includes five additional video versions of the songs “Kylie From Connecticut”, “The Frown Song”, “Errant Dog”, “Cologne”, and “Effington”. Way to Normal has been much awaited, since his sophomore album (Songs for Silverman) came out in 2005.
Ben Folds, previously of the band Ben Folds Five, launched his solo career in 2001 with the release of his first album Rockin’ The Suburbs. Folds himself said that the Ben Folds Five band was “punk rock for sissies”; where the majority of the songs revolved around the odd ball lyrics and piano melodies. In his solo career, Folds croons out heavier tunes, yet maintaining the off-beat lyrics and continuous piano melodies. The biggest change between Folds and Ben Folds Five is the addition of Folds’ own guitar playing to each of the solo albums.
On Way to Normal, the guitar tunes are much less obvious than in the 2001 release of Rockin’ the Suburbs. Many of the songs (written by Folds himself) blend together Folds’ piano playing along with his innovative lyrics and voice. The video version of the song “Cologne” has a full piano orchestra accompanying Folds’ original version of the song. Other songs, like “Kylie from Connecticut”, focus only on the lyrics, piano and mood of the song (and are specifically a throwback to Fold’s alliterated anthems such as “Losing Lisa” or “Carrying Cathy”). The somber tone and slow, deep piano chords reverberate the sad meaning behind the lost love of which the lyrics recount. Some songs focus on up-beat tempos and raunchy lyrics combined with percussion and a small bit of synth to re-invent Ben Folds Five into the new Ben Folds.
Folds also teamed up with fellow singer-pianist Regina Spektor on the song “You Don’t Know Me”. On the surface, the song seems both uplifting and cheerful, especially when Spektor’s bubbly voice is heard in the background throughout the chorus and verses. The fact that there are catchy string instruments and light percussion matched with the lyrics distracts the listener from the actual meaning. Once tuned into the lyrics, you find that the tone is bitter and even slightly snide. “Things I've felt but I've never said/You said things that I never said /So I'll say something that I should have said long ago: /(You don't know me) /You don't know me at all”. If you listen to the lyrics, you can definitely hear the pent up frustration.
Another quirky fact about the album is that Ben Folds himself tried to beat all the online music-pirates at their own game. In July, Folds spent a total of eight hours recording rough cuts for his “new album”, which was then “leaked” to the public later that July. Folds, looking to have a little fun, gave the “fake” songs to friends who had connections on the Internet and let them “leak” the album to waiting fans. The leaked album was not declared a fake until mid-August over a radio talk show. Some fans were upset by the news, but Folds reassured them with the release of the real album. Way to Normal is currently available at any music retailer or downloadable on iTunes.
> Comments
G Bill S on Oct 14, 2008 at 08:22 AM:
Well written and clearly sympathetic to both the musicians and the fans. Hardly my style of not-so-easy listening but portrayed in the review with a fine tuned ear. Well done Abby, even if I don't add either to my collection... XX