Brendan Benson
My Old Familiar Friend

I've had this album loaded on my mp3 player for about 2 months, but during this time it probably received only 2 complete listens.

Then about a week ago, during a summer vacation evening, I randomly started the first track and let it continue with the others to follow..

And magically, but gradually, song after song emerged from nowhere..

We’re talking about Brendan Benson, a singer-songwriter devoted in his past albums to a typical USA folk-rock (the song "Cold Hands (Warm Heart)" is a pleasant and melodic example) who later joined Jack White in The Raconteurs, producing 2 albums of absolute respect.

Following those experiences with White, Benson realized another personal album where he partly trails the path taken in the side-project, but adds characteristic elements of his style.

And one of the defining elements is precisely the melody; the initial "A Whole Lot Better" immediately makes things clear in this respect, adding tight rhythms, energetic guitars, and a bed of Hammond organ on which you can willingly lie down.

Another compelling song is "Gonowhere" with its piano supporting the entire track and especially the vocals.."Don't waste your time / people going nowhere" .

Then comes "Feel Like Taking You Home"; it mainly develops on guitar and bass riffs that gradually grow and become enriched..drums, rhythm changes, piano and a continuous "Feel like taking you home now/feel like being alone now" until it explodes in the finale.

The overall sound that emerges blends rock well, in one of its most classic structures, with some elements taken from Mississippi country, thus also connected to the sound of the Raconteurs.

The concluding "Borrow" is another gem of melody and power while "Posied and ready" begins with a syncopated rhythm of piano and drums that in a live version would surely fully engage the audience; a slight melancholic vein is present in "Lessons Learned" where one is asked to forget what has been seen and what one thinks is true in order to start over.

"My Old Familiar Friend" turns out to be a very pleasant discovery (or rediscovery in my case)..I hope there will be an opportunity to see it live.