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Ben Arthur Edible Darling |
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Monday, 17 May 2004 |
 Ben Arthur is not your average folk-rock-country-blues singer. The upbeat catchy melodies are there, but the subject matter is distinctly dark and unique.
Grim humility and a duality flows through Arthur's lyrics. The pulsing blues number "Edible Darling" is about a friend who raises pigs to eat them.
The brooding "Tonight" has a shamed lover pleading to stay over, but it's also a chilling song about being unwilling to go gently into that metaphoric night.
Similarly, "Keep Me Around" is a morbidly tongue-in-cheek song, wherein Arthur one-ups McCartney's "When I'm Sixty-Four", asking that his body be treasured even after death. He also mocks himself and the music business on opening track "Mary Ann" - "The older I get, the more I realize/The best I can hope for is compromise"
But the cleverly lyrical, at times dark-laced and brooding, "Edible Darling", never forgets the value of a great tune.
The Virginia native's lyrical poetry and delicate melodies remain key to his appeal, though he incorporates 808's, DJ-scratching and drum machines on several of the songs, with cellos and strings underlining others.
There are bits and pieces of John Lennon's cheeky fatalism, Beck's homespun experiments, the exoticism of David Bowie. "Edible Darling" was produced by Ben Arthur with engineer Mike Shipley coming in as executive producer. (Aerosmith, India Arie, Shania Twain).
Ben Arthur first picked up a guitar when he was 14 and began writing songs - he listened to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, and AC/DC, none of which you can hear in his music.
He went on to be influenced in his songwriting, so he insists, by Lyle Lovett and Michelle Shocked, which isn't exactly apparent, either. While attending University of Virginia, he developed a local following, and eventually shared the stage with Tori Amos and Bruce Hornsby. No similarity there either. "Edible Darling" draws on a host of influences whilst sounding unlike any of them.
Following two independently released albums (through his own Chicken Butter label), Ben Arthur has signed to new US label Bardic Records.
"Edible Darling" is released on the 21st June 2004 through Bardic Records UK / Pinnacle Distribution.
Listen to some sample tracks from the album here:
WINDOWS:
End of the Day
[url]http://www.waytoblue.com/media/music/endoftheday.asx[/url]
Mary Ann
[url]http://www.waytoblue.com/media/music/maryann.asx[/url]
Tonight
[url]http://www.waytoblue.com/media/music/tonight.asx[/url]
REALPLAYER:
End of the Day
[url]http://www.waytoblue.com/./media/music/endoftheday.ram[/url]
Mary Ann
[url]http://www.waytoblue.com/./media/music/maryann.ram[/url]
Tonight
[url]http://www.waytoblue.com/./media/music/tonight.ram[/url]
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