Way to Normal - Ben Folds

I do hope that most of you have musical tastes beyond film music, I must admit that mine do largely extend to orchestral music of some sort (even down to the wonderful Divine Comedy who are essentially an orchestral pop band). However, as a pianist and songwriter, I of course love Randy Newman (scores and songs) but am also a huge fan of Ben Folds. Not a household name by any means, but hugely popular in both the UK and Europe, although maybe more famous when he was the lead figure in Ben Folds Five (although oddly it had only three members). Since going solo - which didn't really make any difference since Folds wrote, sang and played all the songs in the Five - he's released two proper albums, Rockin' the Suburbs and Songs for Silverman, the latter probably remaining his finest solo disc. He's also put out a few EPs and contributed to a number of movies, notably Over the Hedge.

His latest, Way to Normal, carries on the tone set in Songs for Silverman to some extent but Folds rather lightens the mood (musically) and increases the swearing. Some reviews have complained that he's just starting to sound rather bitter. Where before he provided either a lighthearted critique or soulful exploration of modern relationships, his age rather makes him sound a bit like an old git. Maybe the Bastard of the opening track on Silverman. The result is that Way to Normal isn't his strongest album, but for anyone who likes his style, there's plenty to enjoy. There's a bit more rocky stuff here than on Silverman, notably Dr Yang, The Frown Song, Errant Dog and the humorous Bitch Went Nuts (although drifting into offensive for the sake of it territory at times it has to be said, great tune though) and Brainwascht.

The main single is You Don't Know Me, a semi-duet with Regina Spektor. I say semi as Spektor gets about a quarter the number of lines as Folds. He never used to make an effort to write a singalong chorus, but You Don't Know Me is just that, otherwise a fun take on a couple who realise they know nothing about each other. However, it does have a bit of a problem common to several other songs, it ambles a bit in the middle. The otherwise lovely Kylie from Connecticut has the same issue. Folds seems to run out of vocal material midway through and so there's a short noodling passage. If there's one thing I'd never previously have complained about with Folds it's that his songs have padding, but there's a little of that here. Hiroshima has similar issues, although it has a nice stadium rock feel, complete with sampled cheering from his concerts to convey the situation of Folds singing about a real incident where he fell of stage and had to stop playing from bleeding too much. The true highlight is the gorgeous Cologne midway through the disc, one of those wonderful ballads that Folds does so well. Another would be Effington which seems like a cousin to Jesusland from Silverman, about small town America.

If you like Folds already, Way to Normal is a solid but not especially outstanding effort and I don't think it'd be the album to convert a novice (from Ben Folds Five I suggest Whatever and Ever Amen and Songs for Silverman from his solo work). Some tracks are just a bit meh, Errant Dog and Fresh Coffee in particular. The latter has an especially irritating crackling synth noise that spoils an otherwise pointed and ironic lyric; when poor, Folds had to pay for his own coffee and now he's rich, he gets them free. Still, for highlights such as Cologne, Effington, Kylie in Connecticut and The Frown Song, a fun disc, but as some commentators have suggested, it might be nice for Folds to try something a bit different next time. Having seen his amazing Ben Folds with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra where his songs are arranged for full orchestra, something like that would be rather stunning. Here's hoping he can either do new material with orchestra in mind or a good recording of those on the DVD and few newer tracks too.