Benjamin Finger’s album reminds me of a mellow dream. Folktronica would be the technical term for it but the sound is considerably looser than most of that genre’s practitioners. The most obvious difference would be the busy nature of each song. Despite the slow nature, he creates an entire little universe out of personal field recordings, electronics, and guitar. Other folktronica may shy away from a repetitive beat (see Four Tet’s entire discography for more information on this) but Benjamin embraces it.
There’s a good balance between quiet and loud. Some songs barely have a beat, only disembodied voices and a guitar. Other songs are like “Drowned in Elbows” the longest and wildest song on here. You’re treated to the only horns on the album which feels a bit tragic. Ben has a pretty good sense of what to do with the other tracks as well. I enjoyed the mellow, early summer feel of this album.
My favorite songs were the quieter ones, call me a bit old-fashioned. The approach to the slower ones was quite nice. Some of the more humorous ones “Her Balcony Mouth” also possessed a certain charm to them. Generally speaking the sounds are pristine, clear, almost shocking clear at a few moments where I look around me to see if something’s behind me.
Really, this is a good album for cloud-watching. It is fun, mellow, and a pretty enjoyable affair.And the cover is gorgeous-looking.