Ben Howard - Is It? (June 16th, 2023) Album

BEN HOWARD’S FIFTH STUDIO ALBUM ‘IS IT?’ WILL BE RELEASED VIA ISLAND RECORDS ON 16TH JUNE 2023. ‘IS IT?’ IS A LUSH, SONICALLY SPLINTERED ALBUM WHICH CAPTURES HOWARD WORKING THROUGH MOMENTS OF SEISMIC SHIFT. THE ALBUM HAS BEEN PRODUCED BY BULLION, AND THERE ARE COLOURFUL, LEFTFIELD PRODUCTION CHOICES THROUGHOUT, TYPICAL OF THE PRODUCER.
COMPRISED OF 10 SONGS, 'IS IT?' IS AN ALBUM WHICH REPRESENTS A FURTHER CREATIVE EVOLUTION FROM AN ARTIST KNOWN FOR NEVER REPEATING HIMSELF THROUGHOUT HIS ALREADY-STORIED CAREER.

1. Could Not Make It Up
2. Walking Backwards
3. Days of Lantana
4. Life in the Time
5. Moonraker
6. Richmond Avenue
7. Interim of Sense
8. Total Eclipse
9. Spirit
10. Little Plant

 

dude rocks

 

the hell is this key art? haha

 

Walking Backwards is so sick. Have had both singles on repeat all this morning. Ben Howard can do no wrong and I love the direction so far. Can't believe we are a month away from getting a new album from him.

 

yeah everything he puts out is gold to me

 

Quite like the vibe of the two new tracks, especially Walking Backwards. Which is a pleasant surprise after Collections From The Whiteout which for most part was unlistenable trash.

 

well, i disagree

 

about collections, to be clear. great record.

 

Collections is an album I have to be in the mood for. Sage That She Was Burning is such an amazing track for me.

 

Suppose I didn't expect to enter a Ben Howard thread and call his music trash and not have people disagree. I do feel like he has been going steadily downhill since Every Kingdom, with CFTWO being a pretty sharp drop-off in particular. Hard to fathom how the guy who wrote songs like Bones and Gracious now mumbles his way through fuzzy loops and non-melodies. But having said that I do still dig his new ones, could easily end up on whatever summer playlist I end up making.

 

I’ve enjoyed familiarizing myself a bit with his earlier work after being introduced through Whiteout. Stoked for this record

 

Everything he's done after Every Kingdom might be less fun, but is still far superior work! Love him mumbling over fuzzy loops too! Still, I'm glad he's taking a turn now.

 

could not agree less, he has gotten better with each album and the starbucks core stuff is his only stuff i don’t fuck with. everything from noonday dream on is infinitely more interesting

 

I will always check anything Ben does because I'm a big fan of his artistry, but these songs don't do a lot for me either. really flat production, melodies aren't grabbing me and it feels like I can barely pick out his guitar playing anymore when he used to be one of the best doing it

hope I end up liking the record more than the singles which def happened with Whiteout. but man that run from Burgh Island to Noonday would be hard for any artist to top. dude was firing on every conceivable cylinder

 

New single is out tomorrow!

 

Also, the tracklist title for the song is Life in the Time of Captivity but the tease is just Life in the Time

 

Holy shit Days of Lantana is so good

 

damn yeah Days of Lantana is an instant classic. blows all the singles outta the water

 

A very lush and layered album. Finally got a moment to listen to this front to back. Both Interim of Sense and Spirit were immediate standouts. Spirit sounding off throughout the entire first listen and coming together by the end of the track. Spirit felt like it could have been a closer but Little Plant is just as great where it is placed in the track listing. Album is very weird and jarring but Ben doesn't miss for me.

 

think I'm landing on this just being fine. biggest problem is its tragically overproduced to the extent that all the clutter just gets in the way of some good songwriting. think I actually prefer Collections throwing everything at the wall over this consistently sounding plastic and flat

all that said, Lantana, Spirit and Little Plant are definitely keepers and proof he can still make absolute magic when he wants to. just don't know what he's going for on most of this

 

gotta be honest i think this one sucks outside of like days of lantana, life in the time and interim of sense

 

I feel like there's a pretty sharp drop-off after Moonraker but given how low my expectations are of Ben Howard nowadays I find myself kinda liking this as something to have on in the background. Think Walking Backwards is probably the best thing he has done in years. Little Plant is a nice reminder he can sing when he wants to.

 

the last two albums before this are miles ahead of this one with a half dozen songs each better than either of those imho

 

My favorite album of his is still Noonday Dream but I've had this on repeat in the background during the work day, cooking, or out in the garden. Lyrically, it might be his weakest album (or at least there aren't lines that hit me and make me pause for a second). Sonically, I enjoy the direction he took. Can't fault an artist continuing to do what they want to do, I guess.