Ben Kweller – Go Fly A Kite

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over five years since Ben Kweller was singing about pennies on train tracks. It’s also easy to forget that Kweller is releasing his fifth studio album aged 30, eighteen years after joining his first band.

Go Fly A Kite begins with a pop-rock number and continues in the style that his fans have come to expect. Mean To Me opens with some heavy electric guitar chords and Kweller sings with an angst that perhaps would normally be found in younger performers starting out in the industry. One of the more polished tracks would have to be Jealous Girl. With an upbeat bridge into a tuneful chorus it reminded me of why I first fell for Kweller’s craftsmanship back in the days of Penny on the Train Track.

Full Circle is catchy with one of those repetitive choruses that refuse to leave your mind for a while after the track ends. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing – in fact the track is one of my highlights of the album. The drum-heavy introduction to Time Will Save The Day leads into another peak of the album. The tonality of Kweller’s vocals adds emotion to the track that repeats the song’s title for effect in the chorus before a rather abrupt ending.

The album ends on another high with You Can Count On Me. It’s a sweet track with the repeated use of the second person pronoun making you think that maybe, just maybe, Kweller is actually singing the song just for you. But then the album ends and reality hits once more. And you’re alone. So you start listening to another Ben Kweller album…

Is it an amazing album that will change your life? No. Is it a disappointing album? No. It’s simply an album that exhibits the undeniable talents of Kweller whilst rarely breaking away from what fans have come to expect from him. Go Fly A Kite is a quality, yet safe, album.

www.benkweller.com