aaamusic | On 31, Jan 2011

I don’t really know how to feel about Ben Weaver’s latest effort ‘Mirepoix and Smoke’; on paper it should be right up my street yet there is definitely something missing here. It would be unfair to suggest that there is little of merit here but it is my opinion that subtlety has been confused with a lack of impetus in the first instance. At times this album is understatedly beautiful but at other times it appears a little too raw and unfinished rather than the elegance that could have been created.

Weaver’s best quality is perhaps his ability to tell a story in a lyric rather than simply ensuring that the words fit nicely. However, it is this focus on lyrical content that allows the album at times to become a little difficult to listen to; musical accompaniment is sparse and actually pretty bland which means that it is easy to get the impression that one is listening to an extended monologue rather than a piece of music. There is certainly merit in making music that is hyper- personal, however, the focus here is not on the sound of the songs themselves but the intention behind them.

‘East Jefferson’ is probably my favourite track on the album as it employs melody in a way that the other tracks fail to do. It uses vocal harmonies in a more coherent way than any other track whilst at the same time keeping poetic essence at its heart. A lot of people will describe Weaver’s vocal as being raw and untarnished but to me the notion of being pitchy on an album considering the production techniques available is unforgiveable.

Interestingly, I can imagine that there are people who will love this record and that is why I find it so hard to criticize. It is certainly the sort of album that could provide a soundtrack to your life; it is just not my life that Weaver is speaking to. Unless you are in the right place emotionally, the album fails to engage you in the way that other personal albums like ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ have the ability to. I’m sure that a lot of people will describe Weaver as the Leonard Cohen of the new generation, or the Dylan of the future, however, I do not believe that there is anything here that deserves such high praise. Instead, we are left with an album full of ideas rather than anything complete and that is incredibly frustrating.

Author: Josie Payne