It's been a little over a week since Ben Harper and Relentless7's debut album WHITE LIES FOR DARK TIMES hit the record shelves. This means I've listened to the CD around 30 times through, all in preparation for the May 16th Chicago show.
Music always changes the more you hear it. After the show, I'm sure I'll have new favorite songs and reasons to like others. In the last week or so, the music of Ben Harper and Relentless7 has graduated.
First of all, I'm biased. Ben Harper can pretty much put out any album with any 11 songs and I'll be a fan. But, I'm always critical because I have the greatest of expectations. WHITE LIES FOR DARK TIMES exceeded all of mine.
I call Ben Harper an artist because he keeps on improving and challenging himself. It would have been easy to stick with the Innocent Criminals (whose music I adore) and sell out mid-size venues. Part of me misses the ICs, but the wiser part of me appreciates the new music.
Like I said before, WHITE LIES FOR DARK TIMES is a rock album. And, it's good rock. It's not Daughtry. It's not Green Day. It's true rock 'n' roll, with attitude, conviction, a message and social and political overtones. It's the best rock album in the last five years.
Ben Harper's last album LIFELINE was his best album (before this one)... not necessarily the best single songs. But, as a whole, the songs blended together to make a listening experience. It's difficult not to listen to the entire album. WHITE LIES FOR DARK TIMES picked up where that album left off.
It's an experience. A rock experience. Ben Harper has always had this running theme of contradiction. He's black AND white... which makes him neither and both. He has songs called "Glory & Consequence" and "Pleasure and Pain," and he's had lyrics that reflect this contradiction, too.
In "Diamonds on the Inside," he sings "I knew a girl, her name was Truth, she was a horrible liar..." His songs are filled with these (intentional?) contradictions, much like life is. Much like BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN, WHITE LIES FOR DARK TIMES is another album title example of this.
This is his thesis and his alone. He owns this view on life and art, on work and music. No one that I know of does it, so no one does it better. Like I said, the whole album is brilliant, but here are the standouts to me right now:
#1) "Number With No Name" - "The very thing that drives you can drive you insane..." is a lyric in the chorus. This song is just a head-bobbing, killer song that has a great lap steel solo (best viewed/listened to live). The drums are hard and heavy on this one, too. It's a great way to start an album and a concert... even though I read that they are starting shows with a cover of Led Zepplin's "Good Times Bad Times." Does it get any better than this?
#4) "Lay There And Hate Me" - "Never trust a woman who loves the blues..." I won't Mr. Harper. This song is so funky and great. It's one of those songs like "Black Betty" where you feel like you're in a cool 70s movie or you're dealing mass quantities of drugs (like Johnny Depp in BLOW).
#7) "Fly One Time" - I want to be inspired. That's why I watch new movies (and old favorites) and listen to music. I want to find a piece of art from someone that acts as a bridge... something that shows me a sign that I'm not alone... that I'm not crazy... that there are people out there that have similar thoughts and feelings as I do... positive, strong, loving. This song is that. It's more than music. It's more than an anthem. This song was chosen on the Michael J. Fox ABC special last week about optimism. But, it's more than even that. It's truly flies.
I picked out these three songs because they are special in a next-level way. The others are fantastic and the album is dynamite, but these, right now, are songs I can hear and be transported by.
Two days to the big show at the Vic in Chi-Town. Next Thursday, I'll be back with the final WHITE LIES FOR DARK TIMES entry. This will be when the show has already sunk in. Whew...
