Ben Folds - So There

 

Ben Folds

So There

2015

Ben Folds has taken a step out of his comfort zone on his latest album So There. While He has always been the smartest rock and roll player in the room taking a stab at composing for a full orchestra was never really in the cards. Then came So There. On this record Ben composed all the tracks to be played by the Nashville Symphony. You would think this means zero rock and the most simple concerto songs possible, but you would be totally wrong. Ben Folds brings his sensibilities, his humor and his classic piano style and instead allows it to inform what we all can define as normal symphony music. All these songs can still be sung along to, and at times even rocked to, but there is that beautiful undertone of perfectly played instruments. It is something artists look for through production and keyboards but Ben has it all right as his fingertips and he uses it early and often. The music is bright and vibrant full of delightful little pieces that to date we have only heard from Sufjan Stevens in Indie music. 

You can hear the fun Ben Folds is having while toying with the medium. He is able to be goofy and laugh at the fact that HE is directing an orchestra ("F10-D-A"), or use the Symphony to convey deep emotions ("Capable of Anything") like He has often done on songs like "Brick". He has so much at his disposal and the music benefits from it. The music often soars through you leaving an impression that you may have not expected, but will still leave you either laughing or crying regardless. "I'm Not the Man" is the final pop track on the record and leads into the 21 minute concerto that Folds composed specifically for the orchestra, and while it is quite pretty, it doesn't contain his soul, the heart of his musical experience so it does suffer a bit. However that does not take away from an otherwise stellar album, it only adds to the mythos that is becoming Ben Folds. Maybe he is that genius everyone has been saying he is for so many years...

8.1 out of 10