Ben Howard’s third record sees him expand on previous influences with new sounds and endless imagination

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It has been 4 years since Ben Howard’s last release. 2014’s I Forget Where We Were showed Howard’s progression into darker sounding territory which seemed worlds away from his mercury nominated debut, Every Kingdom. Howard, who is now 31, shows in his 3rd record that he is one of the UK’s premier songwriters as well as one of the countries’ most unpredictable musicians. Any fan pressure seems to have eluded him and the result is a record which, in vast parts is undeniably lovely; but in other parts is a tough grind.

His music often deals with nature and landscapes – the Cornish landscape particularly in his early work. This record advances and seems to deal with places further away. Opening track Nica Libres at Dusk sees Howard’s now trademark low murmur during the verses before his sweet vocals ooze out like the smoke of a cigars he sings about.

There’s Your Man is filled with bold guitar and adventurous clashes that smack you in the face. This seems somewhat needed after instrumental track A Boat To An Island Part 2 which is as far from easy listening as it gets. This song, however, along a few others on this track can easily be imagined live. Never usually one to bask in the glory, Ben Howard often turns away from the crowd during long instrumental sections. Although these sections are beautifully structured, it is sometimes a shame to be listening to one of Britain’s most exciting singer-songwriter’s without vocals. A Boat To An Island On The Wall sees similar instrumentation but with vocal layers as well as the presence of acoustic guitars, violins, drums, cellos, synths and distant calls in the background.

Murmurations closes the album and sees Ben Howard find calmness again after the chaos of There’s Your Man. Potent lyric “It’s so peaceful here, no one to fuck it up” stands out amongst the crashing drums.

Complicated and warm, Noonday Dreams sees Ben Howard and his loyal band explore new instruments and move further away from that slightly more easy listening folk style that made him a household name. His new self-invented genre of experimental folk seems the perfect progression from the critically acclaimed I Forget Where We Were and fans will be hoping that the next record doesn’t take another 4 years.

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