Ben Walker’s last solo album ‘Echo‘ was released in 2019. Declared an exceptional release by Folk Radio’s David Pratt, it featured several guest contributions, including Thom Ashworth, Hazel Askew, Bella Hardy, Laura Hockenhull, JinnWoo, Kitty Macfarlane and Laura Ward.
Three years on, next month sees the release of Ben’s second album, Banish Air From Air which explores the relationship between humankind and nature. Banish Air From Air will be available online and in record shops from 24 February 2023 on Folkroom Records. The album can also be pre-ordered via Bandcamp – https://folkroomrecords.bandcamp.com/album/banish-air-from-air.
As with Echo, Ben is once again supported by a strong cast – including Mercury Music Prize nominee Sam Lee and fellow BBC Folk Award winner Nancy Kerr alongside some newer voices – the evocative vocals of indie-folk songwriter Sophie Jamieson, Emily Mae Winters’ dramatic storytelling, Louis Brennan’s bleak growl, Lucy Alexander’s post-punk swagger, as well as Ben’s most recent tourmate, acclaimed singer-songwriter Kirsty Merryn.
Traditional material and reimagined poems sit alongside Ben’s first forays into songwriting. He has spent the time wisely, choosing his material, developing his skills, and, as ever, meticulously matching singer to song and song to style.
It’s a rich, broad landscape, and today we have the pleasure of sharing his first album single, ‘Starlings‘; a characteristically expressive instrumental piece, a sound painting of birds in flight, matched with stunning animations from Marry Waterson.
Ben says: “When I asked Marry to make me some films for this album, I gave her no directions; she just promised me something ‘lovely and devastating’, and that’s entirely what she made.”
Marry adds: “To me; starlings paint the sky casting inky blue shapes against the waning daylight. A painterly feel enhances this calming whoosh of musical twists, turns, swoops and swirls. My film is texture-based; layering hand-painted 16mm cine film, footage and stop motion ink washes.”
Ben: “Everything on this album is about how we humans have tried and keep trying, imperfectly, to make sense of the world around us. Starlings was the first thing I wrote for it; it feels like a lifetime ago, pre-pandemic, inspired by the murmurations of starlings on the seafront near where I live. We still don’t really know how they do it. They don’t need words to communicate, but they all know where they’re going – I wanted to describe the feeling of it without needing words either.”
It’s a remarkable first offering, meditative, enchanting and hypnotic, qualities that Marry has captured perfectly.
Banish Air From Air is available online and in record shops from 24 February 2023 on Folkroom Records.
Pre-Order: https://folkroomrecords.bandcamp.com/album/banish-air-from-air
https://www.benwalkermusic.com/