Ben Lorentzen – America
Ben Lorentzen – America – EP Review
One-man revolution, Ben Lorentzen, has just released the America EP into the world for all to hear. We’re Canadian-based…so we’ll see if we can simply hide under the umbrella of North America and see if we can relate to Ben’s music here today as we review his latest tunes.
I certainly love the way this is starting-out & shaping-up, that’s for sure. As “My American Revolution” starts the EP with low, hushed-tones and haunting-guitar notes plucked & strummed perfectly as the percussion creeps in. Truly the star of the show at the beginning, the bass-tones & simplified bass-line is so incredibly fitting for the way this tune comes together. Nearly Pink-Floyd-esque in tone & atmosphere once the vocals climb into “My American Revolution,” Ben takes us all the way back to the Mayflower if that gives you an idea of just how much history there is in the lyrics, or which point in time he’s taking to in this opening track. As it roars into the third & a half minute this song has built itself into an epic melody fully-expanded and burst open beautifully. Ben keeps it simple through the lyrics without too many words getting in the way and really uses his vocals and harmonies to thicken & truly benefit the rhythm, melody and atmosphere in “My American Revolution.”
There’s a truly innovative artist here in Ben Lorentzen, and a song like “The Ugliest Girl In The World” will prove it to you with one of the sweetest, most bizarre love-songs you’ll ever hear. The melody, chord-progressions and especially the lyricism in this second track are top-fuckin-notch – “The Ugliest Girl In The World” is a song you’ll never see coming; but truly – none of these three tunes are. I can safely say that through his inventive style and search for melodies inside the subtext of his own music and song-writing have kept me guessing and captivated all the way through each of the songs on the America EP. The extra backing-vocals supplying the actual beat you’re hearing in “The Ugliest Girl In The World” are so subtle at times you forget that sound you’re hearing is supplied by a face and not a drumset…the vibe in this song is so chilled-out it tends to just float you away into dreamland. Love the way that Ben sings this one, especially his verse from the second-minute on – he’s put the perfect amount of emotion into what is certainly a strange love-song, but an effective one for sure.
He makes his perspective pretty clear in the opening of the final track “Heaps Of Ashes” repeating how “we will all be heaps of ashes in the end.” Sounds like someone pulled out the banjo for this last groove! Ben’s a talented dude…I’m not surprised at this point that he’s found another way inside these three tunes to continually impress as the EP plays throughout. At first, I almost thought he was going to bring back a more simplified lyric to the song more akin to the opening track – but there is no doubt by the first minute that Ben is going to take the microphone for a wild-ride on “Heaps Of Ashes.” He tells a fantastic tale through the words…a complete story and a well-told one at that; I genuinely love the way that he was able to work such a tale so well-explained into this music. Putting himself directly in the spotlight to end this America experience – the vocals and his delivery become the true-star of this final song and certainly stakes a claim out there in regards to his ever-present ability to write beautifully & uniquely. Ben has done a tremendously impressive job on these three new sparkling songs – America rings through so clear & true that even a Canadian like me fully gets it!
As far as I understand it…there’s a full-album for America as well, this is just an appetizer! Find out more from Ben Lorentzen’s official homepage at: http://iam.benlorentzen.com/
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