I have listened to Ben Hobbs performing his newest release, “Own Arms”, dozens of times over the last week, and I am still coming up empty on what I want to say in the way of a review.
It is not for lack of liking; this is a pleasing listen, I really do like it. I would give it a solid nine out of ten. Snappy guitars, synthesizing synths and a good groove propel the song along nicely.
My lack of writing is not for lack of connecting to the lyrics. The lyrics look at bidding farewell to people, places or things that may be preventing us from moving forward with our lives. Discussing the project, Ben says: “I wanted to capture this fast-paced punk idea, circling around on three chords and create something with loads of energy. It started out
a lot more electronic with the production, but we decided that to really make it work, everything had to be live and real.” Hence, the lyrics presented no obstacle to my writing of a review.
My silence was not an act of procrastinating. I had the time and resources to write this up a week ago. It was something of a writer’s block I assume, that kept me from putting pen to paper, metaphorically.
Grooving music, smart lyrics and all the time in the world and I am still coming up empty. In place of a proper review, I submit this for your reading and listening pleasure. Put down whatever would distract you from giving this recording an appropriate session of listening. Pull up the lyrics so you can read along, I prefer iTunes for the ease of doing this task, but if you have another method that works for you, all the power to you. Relax and let the music wash over you.
Repeat.
Repeat, and wait with bated breath for Ben to grace us with more material from his forthcoming E.P.
https://soundcloud.com/benhobbsmusic
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5tU5HsDRcBKvOhKjO24QPj
https://www.facebook.com/benhobbsmusic/
https://twitter.com/benhobbsmusic?lang=en
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Review by Norman @ WeatheredMusic.ca
Weathered Music 