I was quite seriously taken by Ben Harper’s sound around the time of Fight for your Mind and The Will to Live. His musical direction subsequently lost my attention and I’ve paid little mind of his output since. This disc however finds him frequenting that same headspace that had me swept up back in the day. Harper sounds energised and full of inspiration for whatever reason and it translates deftly into stunning tracks like I Will Not Be Broken and Don’t Give Up On Me Now. Elsewhere on the album sees Harper turning up the distortion and invoking Rock n Roll behemoth that strides, bucks and brawls with a fine swagger. Funnily, the biggest disappointment is a tune called Rock n Roll is Free, it just sounding like a self-conscious attempt to evoke a 60s-like camaraderie in the audience when it inevitably gets punted live. One thing’s for certain, Ben Harper knows how the hell to write a great song, knows how to wrangle an effortless array of sounds from his instruments and surrounds himself with peeps that play the hell out of their respective instrument – see the rollicking jam that is Get There From Here as proof.
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