It's shaping up to be a big year for award-winning Canadian singer/songwriter Ben Reynolds. It's been four years since he left his beloved Canada for Nashville and he is just now preparing to release his first solo album "Fractures Inside the Design". It comprises his first full release since the dissolution of critically acclaimed indie-pop/rock trio Sweetsalt.
Featuring a mix of solo-written material and co-writes with some of Nashville's top songwriters, "Fractures Inside the Design" is a very personal exploration of Reynolds' life up until now. "In my heart I'm a pop writer", he says, "and that means I try to lay out each concept as directly as I can. Songs can be layered in meaning, but there should be something attractive on the surface to bring you back for successive listens. I love bands like Radiohead and Counting Crows, but sometimes it takes a lot of work on the listeners' part to dig down to the emotional gold. I like to think I've done some of the mining myself, so the listener can go through and pick up some nuggets on the first listen."
There are "nuggets" aplenty. Personal highlights include "Monochrome", a Sam Mizell co-write with an infectious shuffle groove and one of the catchiest hooks in years, "You Don't Know Me", a solo-write Ben describes as "an ode to co-dependency", and "Need to Know", which Ben wrote with rising star Regie Hamm (most recently noted for writing "Time of my Life" for the 2008 American Idol finale). Its easy to see why Ben has trouble picking favorites among the tracklist. He explains, "I always struggle to choose 'favorite songs'; it's almost like saying you have a favorite child. Right now I'm blessed to have so many great songs to choose from -- I actually have too many songs that I'm excited about! That's a great problem to have!"
Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
