Benjy Ferree - ‘In the Countryside’ (Domino) Released 30/04/07

‘In the Countryside’ sounds exactly like its title suggests it will – which isn’t on its own a bad thing. The twee, country bounce of the track itself, however, is. Benjy spits his lyrics out over a punchy acoustic-driven jaunt, uncluttered and given a rootsier feel with a duelled solo between a fiddler and a whistler. Nevertheless, a more annoying melody is unlikely to have been sung this year, making lines such as “Here comes the host/He favours you the most” sound even more daft than they look on paper. An intriguing individual, is Mr Ferree, but here he comes across as even Mouldier Peaches.