I Forget Where We Were, A Review

I first discovered Ben Howard last year when I heard his song Old Pine. I was immediately drawn to his beautiful slightly raspy voice and his gripping lyrics. I was extremely excited when I read that he was going to be releasing a new album this year, I had been patiently listening to Every Kingdom, his first album, waiting until he announced he had a new one on the way.

When I listened to I Forget Where We Were for the first time I was positively shaking with excitement. As soon as the first few notes of Small Things wailed out of my stereo a shiver ran down my spine. I listened to the album a total of four times that day and less than two days later I’ve lost count. It’s hard for me to choose a favorite song from I Forget Where We Were because every song has its own emotion and story that pulls at your heartstrings. The title track feels a bit like an 80’s power ballad but with Howard’s soft crooning and wailing guitar it has the Ben Howard stamp of approval. End Of The Affair is over five minutes long but it’s so worth it. Howard has mastered the art of keeping the listeners on their feet. Starting off with echoing guitar and cello in the background the song, it seems it’s going to stay slow and steady for ever and lulls the listener into a soft sleep full of Ben Howard’s cries about trying to live without this mystery woman. The song continues into a wailing, almost spacey guitar movement, until about 4:45 at which point the drum kicks in and the listener is sitting on the edge of her seat. You can almost feel the guitar undulating through your body and Ben Howard’s echoing cries of “what the hell” are gut wrenching.

Howard’s new album is very different from Every Kingdom, it’s less acoustic guitar and more spacey with echoing electricity. It’s a beautiful piece of work that Howard and his team must be very proud of. I recently got tickets to see him in February of next year and now that I Forget Where We Were has been released I am ecstatic to see him live. This new album is a work of art, each song flows easily into the next. The only bad part of the record is the end. I highly recommend that everyone listen to Ben Howard and support him by purchasing his music and seeing him live if one can afford it.

©Ben Howard 2014