Ben Kweller - Changing Horses [Album]

ATO Records

February 26, 2009, 01:35 PM

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On Ben Kweller's 4th studio album 'Changing Horses' he seems to have taken his singer-songwriter styling in the direction of Nashville possibly via Liverpool. His self-titled previous effort was more grounded in a sixties pop sound though this effort shows no diminishing in quality from Kweller, it does demonstrate more of an adaptation to what I guess you could call the roots of American music. Ben Kweller certainly has a slight chameleon nature about him never sitting still in any particular movement and seeking to blend effortlessly the music of his past into a more modern oeuvre.

And so with 'Changing Horses' we get just that. A blend of country music with something akin to McCartney Beatles' songs, combining the rustic sounds of the west with the pop sensibilities of the 60's. It makes for an intriguing listen with the opening two tracks 'Gypsy Rose' and 'Old Hat' using lap-steel and slide guitar in the way only those country songs about sleeping with your cousin's dog can! 'Gypsy Rose' tells that old blues tale of prostitution before 'Old Hat' continues the morose theme as Kweller unwinds a tale of loss.

'The Ballad Of Wendy Baker' is the central focus of the album with a deeply affecting tale quite aptly summed up in the lyric "Someone took your smile away/Now it's gone and I can't see/No one loves till it's gone", it's at times haunting but with an incredibly poignant sentiment. 'Sawdust Man' is where I see the McCartney comparison as this is very much like any of McCartney's White Album era Beatles efforts. Reminding me in flavour of 'Rocky Raccoon' without the tale of revenge, ending wonderfully with some CB Radio chatter from no doubt two burly truckers. It has that bizarre-ish McCartney quality.


'Wantin' Her Again' and 'Things I Like To Do' once again revert to the staple country sound and rhythm which I find can get a bit tiresome and over-repetitive. Thankfully Kweller doesn't get to stagnant with the sound, switching it up with tracks like 'On Her Own' [which is a much more catchy tune] that's more in kind with modern Americana such as 80's Springsteen. Kweller makes these tracks very much his own with his knack for writing some excellent lyrics and individual ways of crafting tales.

'Homeward Bound' is an apt title for the final track and according to Kweller has a story behind it “It was written in the ’60s by Willy Mason’s mom and dad but no one ever recorded it. Willy played it for me one day and I fell in love, knew I had to cut it.” it's as you would expect from the title, a rather wistful tale of the longing to get back to where you belong.

Ben Kweller has built on Fleet Foxes debut that brought the country sound to today's youthful audiences who clearly would have seen it all as line-dancing and spurred boots beforehand. 'Changing Horses' is another notch for Ben Kweller you kind of wonder where he's going to go next.

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