Ben Folds (from the album What Matters Most

Ben Folds (from the album What Matters Most

Ben Folds (from the album What Matters Most available on New West Records) (by Bryant Liggett)
Ben Folds is funny and serious, hip and heady. A crafty songwriter, and even cunning musician, he remains more than a piano balladeer. Ben Folds is a storyteller and a dude with a keen, observant eye who takes what he witnesses and puts them into songs that have breeze, bounce, and/or drive. His latest in What Matters Most is an album with a solid Pop personality, that lyrically plays out like some stream of conscious beat generation tale.
 
There’s an electro pulse that kicks off “But Wait, There’s More” and that aforementioned observant eye kicks right in as Folds sings of ‘that freakshow in the landscaping parking lot, was oh so funny and then now it’s not’… another life visual where you laugh at first and then realize you shouldn’t. And there’s always more.
 
That electronic rhythm continues in “Exhausting Lover” as Ben Folds tells a tale that must be from a tour because he ‘woke up in a truck stop parking lot’. It grows into a big, animated and prog like cut with horns and layered vocals. He’ll drop ballads in “Fragile” and put some classical panache in “Kristine from the 7th Grade” while also dropping big, Pop band chops for “Winslow Gardens”.
Throughout What Matter Most, Ben Folds piano playing remains grand and sweeping, especially in title track.
 
Ben Folds is a complete package. At times, a soft, gentle songwriter, other moments a big-time band leader and arranger. He can bang on the piano and package clever wordplay into a Pop song. What Matters Most is another smart record for the smart listener. (by Bryant Liggett)
 
Listen and buy the music of Ben Folds from AMAZON
For more information, please visit the Ben Folds website