:: Ben Lee - Ripe

Ben Lee

Some of Ben Lee's big fans may ponder that he doesn't demonstrate the typical angst that has surrounded his previous releases. “Ripe” shows Ben in an apparent good mood, bursting with love and happiness. Certainly, there is lots of love and sex shown throughout - just look at the song titles. On the other hand, if you want some easy, laidback rock moments to contemplate areas in your life, Ben can do it subtlely for you with most of these songs. Good upbeat melodies open up the album and the song titles will reel you in for curiosity in the customary quirky fashion - such as “American Television” and “What Would Jay-Z Do”.

Ben sounds much more mature in voice and spirit and has cleverly crafted the songs into something believable and not soft and fluffy. He goes romantic with Mandy Moore, who lends her vocals in “Birds And Bees”, yet he goes lustful in “Sex Without Love”. There are other guests too, including Nickel Creek's Sara Watkins, Good Charlotte's Benji Madden with guitar, and members of Rooney. That adds some depth to the sound and songwriting. It's not an easy album to judge because his previous one was so successful and built around a different fabric. Here, after apparently writing close to a hundred compositions with which to whittle down to an album, Ben has settled on sex-flavoured tunes as his timed emotion. “Ripe” may not meet the same success but it won't necessarily worry him because he calls the songs as he sees fit and he'll be around making decent music for a long time. Give this a listen and see what you can get from it.