DL
Out Now
8 / 10
You might not know Benbo and that’s a shame. In between moving from London to Scotland and
experimenting with a beard he has made a mini album, which aside from having an
impressive cast of contributors is also a mighty fine collection.
It’s off-the-wall, funny, sad and experimental and manages,
somehow, to gel the whole kit and caboodle together. Following a two second ‘title track’ intro, Gravity
Pulls Me Down (co-written with Dr Who writer A.K. Benedict) sounds like one of
the Lightning Seeds’ finest songs and just like Ian Broudie, Benbo manages to
sound upbeat whilst singing a song about a fall into depression. Its wonderful pop fodder and a track that
surely deserves to be endlessly pumped out of mainstream radio.
Produced by Marta Salogni (Frank Ocean, MIA) and mastered by
Mandy Parnell (Björk) and Bob Macciochi (DJ Shadow), Everything Is Fine doesn’t
fail to impress and raise an eyebrow, or two.
F This has vocal roots in Blues with a guitar pop backing in a Green Day
style and I’m A Taker more than tips a hat in the direction of Ray Davies. The later was recorded as far back as 2010
and is a beautiful declaration of devotion, commitment and failing love.
Temper, co-written with Kat Five of the mighty Feral Five is
a strangely additive number with a lazy, almost pre-programmed beat style. Vocals are positively negative and strangely
hypnotic and, whilst the track is simple and uncluttered, it sounds amazing.
Another co-write appear in the form of Lucky Escapes where Gr3n
(Cathay Tapes) also produces, masters and mixes another wonderfully sparse
piece. Occasional piano chords and an
almost militarian percussion excerpt appear seemingly randomly in a gorgeously
trippy dreamscape and Dream provides a beautiful interlude into the incredibly
high energy Black Hole full of zipping basslines and more beeps and blips than
you can shake a beepy-blip stick at.
As the twenty minute EP ends with the hilarious Insufficiently
Productive Economic Units, seemingly a letter from a washing machine
manufacturer explaining that they won’t replace a drum unit, it’s hard not to
press ‘play’ once more and bask in the ups and downs of a quite wonderful
find. Lo-fi, D.I.Y. or whatever you want
to call it, Everything Is Fine is a lovely thing.
Published on Joyzine 30/10/17 - here
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