Benji is personal,
intimate, and tragic; all stuff that – when done well – can touch the soul
quite unlike anything else. And Kozelek does it very well here. So much of Benji’s
beauty lies in its simplicity.
Adopting for the most
part a basic man-guitar-songbook template, Benji is chock full of tales and anecdotes
about life, love, and death, and it’s fair to say there’s also a great deal of human
tragedy to be found across its hour-long duration.
As with past work, Kozelek
continually comes up with unusual angles and odd lyrical frameworks to work
with – see mass murder, mercy killing, fire, rock’n’roll, childhood, loving,
and fucking … just for starters.
But it’s the
devil-in-the-detail intimacy that ultimately makes Benji something special.
The album opens with
'Carissa', a song about trying to make sense of the seemingly mysterious fire-related
death of a second cousin. It feels like a cathartic quest for some kind of
closure through words and music, and as an opening track it works a little bit
like a statement of intent.
The death theme is
explored further on 'Truck Driver'; another fire, another lost relative … yep, it
seems there’s been an awful lot of bizarre stuff going on Kozelek’s wider world.
But there’s quiet
reflection and melancholy too – 'I Watched The Film The Song Remains The Same' checks in at
over ten minutes, which is probably a little bit too long, but it’s an extended
tale about growing up, getting older, and moving on. It’s also about the notion
that whatever happens, as life changes, we stay fundamentally the same people
on the inside – there’s a point where Kozelek sings about how certain music of
Led Zeppelin makes the same impact on him now as it did way back when he first
heard it. So it’s also about how music can stand as a marker over time, for
memory and reflection and it is something I could strongly relate to.
There’s a first sexual
encounter on 'Dogs', and subject matter like perceptions of beauty and
acceptance of “difference” are explored on 'Micheline', one of the albums
highlights.
Song titles like 'I
Can’t Live Without My Mother’s Love' and 'I Love My Dad' are self-explanatory,
yet no less heartfelt or haunting for their obviousness. Kozelek’s vocal seems
to find a slightly softer lilt when singing about matters closest to the heart.
'Pray For Newtown' is pretty close to being
the pick of a pretty decent batch; it’s mostly about the mass shooting at Sandy
Hook Elementary School in December of 2012, where 26 people died (naturally!).
It’s an intense four minute lament, utterly compelling, despite its gruesome
subject matter … or rather, perhaps because of it. Referencing several other
instances of mass murder in the song, Kozelek has us reflecting on our own good
fortune, placement, or luck … call it what you will. We’re asked to spare a
little change in the form of some empathy for the victims of the horror, and for
the families left behind.
The death theme
continues (surprise!) with 'Richard Ramirez Died Today Of Natural Causes';
Ramirez being a killer dubbed “the nightstalker” during a reign of terror in
Southern California, and the haunting delay/echo FX used on the vocal add a
slightly spooky edge to this track, as Kozelek somehow manages to summon bite-sized
portions of the evil and darkness that surrounded Ramirez himself.
Musically, this is a
fairly sparse and stripped back affair, mostly acoustic guitar-based, with the
odd subtle layer of additional instrumentation popping up here and there. It’s
only when we get to the closer 'Ben’s My Friend' (about fellow muso Ben Gibbard)
that there’s any real hint of Kozelek seeking out a fuller sound – with
additional bass and horns/sax – but even at that, the closing track feels a
little at odds with the rest of the material, and I’m not sure it works so
well.
That’s a minor quibble,
and if I also have a few small issues surrounding arrangement and production, the
true measure of Benji’s worth is in the words and in the storytelling. And in
the album’s ability to touch and move as you journey across its eleven tracks.
Despite some of the dark
subject matter, there’s something distinctly life affirming and refreshing
about this album, and Benji is so close to perfect it might just be a very
early contender for album of the year. Let’s wait and see.
Recommended.
Here’s ‘Pray For
Newtown’:
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