Benjamin Booker graces our earwaves once again three years after previous self titled debut 'Benjamin Booker' back in 2014. Witness is the latest release from this incredibly talented musician and brings everything raw, soulful and bluesy to attention. Benjamin has the incredible ability to exploit those velvety tones alongside honest and wholehearted songwriting that is conceivably a spine tingling triumph. I followed the singles teased from this album, Witness and Right On You, and it was safe to say these were singles that did not disappoint. When the album dropped, it was a purchase I had to buy on Vinyl. The way his voice resonates through the record player speakers and quality of the vinyl itself is not to be a miss and is the perfect way to listen to this mans musical melodies.
Its an album that takes you on a series of different emotions and themes that he has crafted so carefully and showcases himself as the effective songwriter he is.
The album begins with 'Right On You', a song that is drenched in T.Rex inspired musings to even feels from The Buzzcocks, give this particular track those warm Rock 'n' Roll feels and a slightly punkier edge. Benjamin's voice echoes through the instrumentals and kicks off the album's longevity and emotion. A quick, punchy, gravel fueled initiation to the album giving Booker just two minutes to get his message across, Straight in!
We then move into, Motivation, a wonderful melodic pace change which sees softer vocals and velvety tones rolling nicely through. Bridging through the song we are joined with some wonderful delicate guitar shreds and soft strings over a spongy bass line. Rolling charmingly into title track and first single release from the album 'Witness'. A fully charged, fully fledged message rests strongly in the depth of this particular anthem. His voice and poignant message on the "Black Lives Matter Movement" expressing his rightly fueled thoughts; "Am I gonna be a witness? / Just gonna be a witness". Adopting an innovative journey to tell the story with both sides (read more in the link below). The gospel feel to this piece is wondrously heightened by Bookers vocals on the topline accompanied by Gospel legend Mavis Staples.
The wonderfully executed vocal techniques of Booker, really engages and encourages you to listen closely to his messages in his lyricism. The album has a lot to say and its a powerful piece of music filled with angst and strong themes that need to be addressed. One of my favourites of the album 'Believe', beautifully executed with soft strings and those gospel undertones floating throughout heightens the songwriting and in particular "And now its hard to swallow / You found something to follow / But you still feeling hollow". Off The Ground, Truth Is Heavy & The Slow Drag Under are also stand alone tracks on the album which all follow vintage reflective music arrangements, very bluesy feels and strong storytelling.
An intelligent and thought provoking album which amplifies the power of music and effectively saying what needs to said. Absolutely recommended! Listen on Vinyl for the full effect of the album in my opinion, he sure continues to make his stamp on the industry.
Have a read of the story behind 'Witness' over at NPR:
WATCH:
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