Album Review: White Lies for Dark Times
Ben Harper's latest release White Lies for Dark Times came out on Cinco De Mayo (that's May 5th for all of you that don't speak spanish) and I made sure to get it from Amazon Mp3 (yeah, way better than iTunes) as soon as possible.
Ben has a new backing band for this disc called Relentless7. I didn't know much about them before this album, and I still don't other than the fact that they do a wonderful job of accompaniment for this new "rock" sound that Ben has introduced into his repertoire.
Not to suggest that he hasn't "rocked out" before (click on the title of this post for an example), but this is an entire album of his version of rock.
Ben Harper isn't necessarily widely known, but by those that know him, he is known for his wide range of vocal and instrumental sounds, as well as songwriting. This new album is certainly a testament to that.
If you've never heard Ben Harper before this album I suggest you hop in your time machine and go way back to his days with the Innocent Criminals, his former backing band. He has released 1.16 GB of music in total (about 188 songs) of strictly studio-produced albums, so to narrow it down I'll highly recommend Burn to Shine, Fight for Your Mind, and Live From Mars. However, if you get the chance you absolutely should listen to all of his albums in their entirety.
Enough horn-tooting, on to specific review:
The album starts out with some of the heaviest guitar that Ben Harper has ever put on an album. Not really since Burn to Shine, with the track Less has the guitar had more of a classic "rock" feel and less of a "reggae/blues/whateverhefeelslike" feel.
This is especially evident on my current favorite track (subject to change with further listening) "Keep It Together (So I Can Fall Apart)". "Shimmer and Shine" may be the single, but it doesn't hold the kind of power that the aforementioned song does.
"Keep It Together" starts off with this sort of dueling-guitar riff that has one sound coming from the right speaker and its competitor from the left speaker. These riffs are something that I've heard from Ben before, but only when covering Hendrix. The guitar on this track is simply splendiferous (yes it deserved a made-up word). Think if Jimi Hendrix somehow had some of his DNA transplanted into Jeff Beck and then they put it in Ben Harper.
The reason for that convoluted analogy is that it has that "classic" Jimi feel, with a hint more blues, and it has that traditional Ben Harper flavor.
This goes without mentioning the vocals on the track. They are powerful, yet simplistic. They even give you a little bit of a Jimi mystique. It's mostly chorus (the title of the song) but its on a sub-scream, post-yell level for a majority of the track. His vocals build with the intensity of the guitar with the heavily fuzzed and distorted riffs continuing to set the intense pace of this song. If I can use a bad pun (which I have no fear of), the guitar "keeps it together" while the vocals "fall apart". They don't really fall apart in the sense that they are bad or out of key, in the sense that you feel the emotion attatched to the words.
Further investigation into the album reveals other key tracks:
"Boots Like These" In which he proclaims "Tonight I hope I lose my mind" and "I gotta get out from inside my head."
The album-starting "Number With No Name" Where the tone for the whole CD is set with the rock guitar and the statement "The very thing that drives you/ Can drive you insane."
Truer words were never spoken.
I could go on and list every song on the album and its certain "perks" but I would like for you to listen on your own and reply with your thoughts.
Whether this is your introduction to Ben Harper or you are a wily veteran this album is certain to tickle your fancy.
Peace, Love and Rock
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