Folk pop singer Alec Benjamin debuts musical storybook
- blessing aghimien
- Jan 11, 2019
- 3 min read
Drawing from personal idols such as John Mayer and Jason Mraz, rising self-described “narrator” Alec Benjamin tells a coming-of-age story through symphonies with his debut album, “Narrated For You.”
Released on Nov. 16, the 12-track album is a musical storybook of sorts, as Benjamin’s gentle tenor voice evokes a sense of intimacy between the listener and himself as the lyricist. Benjamin uses all 37 minutes of the album’s length to give an eyewitness account of the world as he sees it, sharing his collection of narratives along the way track by track.
At 24 years of age, Benjamin has established a name for himself in the adult contemporary and folk pop music scene, making him one of many artists to watch for in the coming year. Starting out as a songwriter for rapper Jon Bellion, Benjamin began to build his brand with his parking lot acoustic performances outside of Shawn Mendes’ and Troye Sivan’s concerts in 2016, only to now be in talks of headlining his own collaborative music festival with Mendes himself.
“Narrated For You” opens with “If We Have Each Other,” a tale of shifting family dynamics where Benjamin divulges details about his kinfolk, from his parents and sister to his grandparents. Its bounce-like background sound perfectly balances with the repetitive optimism in lyrics such as “The world’s not perfect, but it’s not that bad” and “If we have each other, then we’ll both be fine.”
The album’s fourth track and lead single, “Let Me Down Slowly,” stands out as one of the album’s most captivating tracks with its emotional depiction of a doomed romance between two youths.
Complete with simple acoustic riffs and a beat drop leading into the song’s second verse, Benjamin tells a first person narrative from the perspective of someone about to be broken up with, singing lyrics such as “I once was a man with dignity and grace, now I’m slipping through the cracks of your cold embrace.”
The chilled vocals of Benjamin particularly shine through at the album’s halfway point, “Boy In The Bubble.”
“This song is about a time when I was bullied as a child. I thought it would be interesting however, to write the last verse from the bully's perspective,” Benjamin said in an interview with Billboard Magazine. “I thought seeing things from the bully's side would be an interesting approach to the verse, because it is something that we do not talk about often enough.”
Benjamin gives listeners an introspective look into the impact bullying has on youth with lyrics such as “I said I didn't want trouble, I'm the boy in the bubble” and “Punch my face, do it 'cause I like the pain.”
The last verse and chorus acknowledges the reality of the bully’s situation, which shows the listener the bully as an alcoholic and abusive father. Victims of family violence often become abusive and violent individuals themselves, according to a study from the Australian Institute of Family Studies, and Benjamin’s inclusion of a harsh societal reality showcases just how in touch he is with the world around him.
Breaking from the overarching trend of Benjamin’s heart-on-sleeve lyricism is the album’s 10th track, “If I Killed Someone For You.” In the song, Benjamin re-imagines himself as a murderer for a person he is madly in love with, an extreme hypothetical for the sake of explaining how far one may go for a loved one.
At the bridge, lyrical details such as “Sorry that I did this, the blood is on my hands” and “Practice my confession, accused, I take the stand” culminate to reveal Benjamin’s murder victim — a version of himself which his partner doesn’t like, killed only for her approval.
The 12th and final track on the album, “1994,” closes Benjamin’s debut releases off with a sentimental self-tribute. Benjamin takes the listener through events and instances in his life which made him the man he is today, from eating Campbell’s chicken noodle soup on a sick day away from school to the time where he broke his wrist trying to be Superman.
A hard-hitting, soulful record, Benjamin’s use of a bright-sounding hook carries the song, along with his choice to intertwine a youthful spin on nationalism by referencing his recollections of the Sept. 11th attacks in the second verse to revamping the traditional patriotic anthem “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” telling his listeners to “be who they want to be.”
If you’re looking to listen to a melodic masterpiece, “Narrated For You” is an album worth a try. Benjamin’s collection allows listeners, regardless of age, to connect with the themes it has to offer through the lens of someone who can make any story believable — a trait hard to come by in music these days.
“Narrated For You” is available on streaming platforms such as Spotify, iTunes, YouTubeand Soundcloud. For more information on Alec Benjamin, visit his official website.
RATING -- 5 out of 5 stars
Comments