Brendan Benson - Feel Like Taking You Home

Feel Like Taking You Home by Brendan Benson

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Press release

4...according to our Business Lady on Wed 26 Aug, 2009.

After the mad unprecedented success of Raconteurs I reckon Brendan Benson can cruise the highways and byways of solo stardom for some time to come. 'Feel like taking you home' is the first single from new album 'My Old, Familiar Friend' and it sounds pretty damn sweet. A confident little pop single that showcases benson's keen songwriting ability. Recorded by super producer Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo fighters) it sounds as it should; polished and professional. B-side 'Playdown' is an equally polished and accomplished composition that brings to mind Raconteurs coconspirator Jack White. It's a joyful, gospel inspired rock effort with a cool proggy keyboard solo in the middle. Better than the single in a way.

Following his phenomenal success with The Raconteurs, Brendan Benson returns in August 2009 with 7” single ‘Feel Like Taking You Home’, which precedes his fourth and finest solo album, “My Old, Familiar Friend”.

Recorded in Nashville and London, produced by Gil Norton (Pixies, Maximo Park, Foo Fighters) and mixed by Dave Sardy (The Rolling Stones, LCD Soundsystem, Oasis) “My Old, Familiar Friend” is a marriage of passion and perfectionism and an illustration of all that is special about Benson. From the seductive glimmer of “Feel Like Taking You Home” to the Motown swoon of “Garbage Day” Benson has shaped his restless-hearted stories into songs that fit together with exquisite neatness and carry the delicious clunk-click of rhyme.

It is a style he has honed, of course. On 1996’s “One Mississippi”, the songs came rough-hewn but charged with hooks and with wit; 2002’s “Lapalco” brought a perfect pop ripeness, and by “The Alternative to Love” in 2005, there was something quite brilliant and burnished about his song writing. Along the way he has co-written and recorded two spectacular albums with The Raconteurs, “Broken Boy Soldiers” and “Consolers of the Lonely”. For Benson, the Raconteurs was not just an opportunity to play with close friends Jack White (The White Stripes) Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler (The Greenhornes) but also a chance to roll around in the rock, psychedelia and blues that has shaped his musical taste.

Through all of the songs on “My Old, Familiar Friend” ribbons a delight in melody. Benson’s musical approach is detailed, craftsmanlike and fastidious. Take for instance “A Whole Lot Better” in which harmonies, hand-claps and guitar are layered to produce a work of such heart-filled buoyancy, a work that culminates in the sweet, dove-tailing swoop of its refrain: “I fell in love with you/ And out of love with you/ And back in love with you/ All in the same day.” These are songs that arrived perfectly formed and immaculate, songs from the very top drawer... the sound of a classic singer/songwriter operating at the top of his game.

TRACKLISTING:

1. Feel Like Taking You Home, 2. Playdown

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