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steveburnhamuk

Ben Watt – Hendra (2014)

Updated: May 16



I really enjoyed the jazz infused early Everything But The Girl albums, but never really took to their more dance-based music. But I always maintained a fondness for Ben and Tracey and their work, so made a point of listening to this album before requesting it as a Christmas present soon after release.




His first solo album for thirty years, this is much more Watt the singer-songwriter than the electronic producer, and is quite a departure from his EBTG work. Only one song (Matthew Arnold's Field) features Watt soloing, and he's put together an impressively tight band, with a rhythm section of Steve Pearce, Martin Ditcham and Jim Watson to complement Suede's Bernard Butler with some fantastic guitar work.


It's a lovely collection of songs, a mixture of the slow and reflective and the more upbeat, without a duff song in there. And to my ears, it's those full band upbeat songs which are most successful. The fantastic Nathaniel is a full-blooded rocker, with Butler's guitar shining through, as it does in a more subtle, darker sense on The Gun. Forget isn't as powerful is still a lively, catchy song.

But there's lots to enjoy in the slower, quieter songs - opener Hendra is a glorious piece, while Matthew Arnold's Field, just Watt and electric piano is beautiful and the duet with Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour, The Levels, is a dreamy, relaxing song.

If it's dreamy you're looking for, Golden Ratio, has that, alongside the jazz-tinged phrasings characteristic of Watt's work thirty years earlier.


This represents a long overdue return to solo work for Ben Watt and it's a great album, highly recommended.



4* - a fantastic collection of songs which are very easy to listen to, without being shallow




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