Ben Folds – ‘Supersunnyspeedgraphic The LP’ (Columbia) Released 23/10/06

Established American singer-songwriter Ben Folds, former front man of Ben Folds Five brings his multi instrumentation skills to the fore once more with his latest release ‘Supersunnyspeedgraphic The LP’. Taken from his Internet ep’s, B-Sides, cover versions and film soundtrack appearances, this is a rather eclectic mix of sounds yet unmistakably Ben Folds throughout. 2003 saw Ben Folds release a string of internet available only ep’s, exclusively for fans; ‘Super D’, ‘Sunny 16’, ‘Speed Graphic’ and ‘The Bens’ with Ben Kweller and Ben Lee, hence the aptly named album. Maybe it’s for this reason that the album sounds disjointed in parts. It’s unmistakably Ben Folds from start to finish, his piano playing skill makes that perfectly clear but there doesn’t appear to be an overall theme running through ‘Supersunnyspeedgraphic The LP’.

Maybe it’s the incessant chirpy piano that’s the problem. Or maybe it’s the chirpy piano set against his lyrics. Vocally, Ben Folds sounds great and lyrically he’s got something to say. It’s just the way he says it as it comes across almost a bit preachy. Ben Folds is a man that sometimes sounds as though he’s singing at you as opposed to for you, such as in ‘All U Can Eat’, ‘Learn To Live With What You Are’ and ‘Bruised’ which are all heartfelt and work on their own merits but when placed on an album with each other are more of an extended continuation on a theme as opposed to a developing progression. ‘Songs Of Love’ and ‘There’s always Someone Cooler Than You’ show more of the same upbeat all American piano tinkling. There are instances of imaginativeness though. ‘Adelaide’ and ‘Rent A Cop’ are darker, more abstract, heavier, urgent and more importantly and as a result, credible, but they are too few and far between, which is a shame as you’re willing someone with so much obvious talent to offer you just that little bit more.

But ‘Supersunnyspeedgraphic The LP’ isn’t all original compositions; there are cover songs as well. As always this is brave to say the least especially as his cover versions include The Cure’s ‘In Between Days’, The Darkness’ ‘Get Your Hands Off My Woman’ and Dr Dre’s ‘Bitches Ain’t Shit’. For the Ben Folds fans out there this experimentation could prove to be highly appealing. To the music purists it’s a disaster. It’s almost sacrilege to even attempt a Robert Smith take off, silly to try and replicate the high pitched warbling of Justin Hawkins and Dre…well, you decide but Ben Folds’ piano sensibilities over mother fucking Dre this and mother fucking Snoop that just doesn’t ring true. However, covers are notoriously difficult to pull off at he best of times and can be forgiven to an extent. The best track on the album by far is the closing track. ‘Still’ is the result of a collaboration with composer Rupert Gregson-Williams and Academy Award winning Hans Zimmer for the soundtrack to the DreamWorks Animation ‘Over The Hedge’.

Soft, gentle and honest this is classic Ben Folds and the perfect way to close the album. Unfortunately though, as an album, its somewhat lacking.