BEN LEE 

By Jim Manion, WFHB Bloomington PD/MD 
  
The Album
Awake is the New Sleep

The Track
"Catch My Disease"

Label
New West

Native
Australia

Liner Notes
Growing up in public can take it's toll one way or the other. Having your every musical move since age 14 tracked by music hipsters is one thing to handle, the ups and downs of a celeb marriage gone sour is quite another. Oh, and then there's the schizo dilemma of trying to please American and Australian audiences at the same time. It's not easy being an alt-rock/MTV it-boy.

The toll paid for such things can either destroy you or take you higher, creatively and spiritually. In the right hands, these trials and tribulations can also become brilliant pop songs. Despite the inner turmoil of some of his tunes, Ben Lee is getting a few things figured out these days and seems to have found the patience to wait for what he hasn't.

Most of the songs on Lee's fifth solo release Awake Is the New Sleep fall together effortlessly. The best of them ("Whatever It Is". "Begin" and "In to the Dark") carry a breezy and wise pop sensibility, the kind of vibe that made hits by Lovin' Spoonful sounds so good on the radio - pop songs that also cut to the chase about the complex dynamics of love. While much of the album is upbeat, a few of the songs on Awake Is the New Sleep take on a noirish late-night feel, brooding in the shadows of the bright ones.

Much of the confident foundation of Awake Is the New Sleep can be traced to the recording's producer and setting - long-time collaborator and friend Brad Wood's new home-based Seagrass Studio in Valley Village, California. Somewhat of a shakedown cruise for Wood's new recording environment, the timing was right for Ben Lee to stop by with a fresh batch of songs. This relaxed working atmosphere casts a consistent charm on the music.

Besides producing, engineering and mixing the album, Brad Wood added a variety of instrumental touches - drums, bass, drum programming, vocals, percussion. Wood has no signature sound besides his wise economy of presence, which helps focus the songs rather than clutter them. Clean and sympathetic backing also come from musical friends like Lara Meyerratken (keys, vocals, drums, percussion and "enough atmosphere to start a planet") and members of Rilo Kiley.

The lyrical flow of Awake Is the New Sleep is a steady stream of the kind of hindsight analysis and questioning of self that comes on strong as one slowly morphs from teen to adult. At Lee's present age of 26 his perspective is no longer very naive, but he's not all grown up yet, either.

Light, pensive riffs from guitars and keyboards sketch out the skeleton of Lee's analytical songs, which usually sport no frills/no fills drumbeats. The easy-going charm of Lee's vocals always find the right spot in the mix - relaxed but deadly serious, even when a toy piano chimes in. As the album's song sequence unfolds over the first four tracks, each track opens the album's energy a little further. Drums rock harder, choruses sound more uplifting and playful.
 From here things unravel a bit. The moody "Apple Candy" and "Ache for You" carry late-night doubts, journal entries that might read embarrassingly in the morning light. The sound of brightness returns, ironically, with a song called "Into the Dark". With "No Right Angles" a song of epiphany, Lee declares the only way to get a grip is to understand there are no right angles in his life.

Further personal enlightenment comes on "Close I've Come" and "The Debt Collectors", before stepping into the accepting and universal "We're All In This Together". After a somewhat pointless jam song called "Light" (the only misstep on the record), Awake is the New Sleep closes with a lullaby of vulnerability, "I'm Willing". Willing to put himself through it all again in the name of love, Ben Lee holds on to one of the keys of the universe - even if he can't hold on to the girl.

Site
www.newwestrecords.com

On
KMTT (The Mountain) Seattle
KPRI San Diego
WXPK (The Peak) White Plains/Westchester
WUIN (The Carolina Penguin) Wilmington
WEHM The Hamptons

...and plenty more!

Performances/Tour

TV


Retail
Awake Is The New Sleep is now in stores.

Contact
Jeff Cook, New West Records