Every now and then an album from a local artist comes out of nowhere and surprises me. Most recently I think it was All Blondes Go To Heaven's (RIP) the trick is to always look down, right? Plenty of great local albums have come out since All Blondes, but, seeing as how I'm a professional music blogger (lol), there's not much that slips past my radar. In this case, Ben Alessi and his new release WAR just so happened to sneak in... And what I uncovered was a pleasant surprise.
WAR kicks off with the solid "First," and immediately we're introduced to the album's hallmarks. The nine-song offering is full of programmed drums, synth leads, and Alessi's endearing vocals. While WAR is the type of album where you would expect to hear some vocoder/auto-tune on, or at least some really slick production, Alessi has instead produced an electronic album that, although sounding polished, retains a little bit of that DIY flavor. I thought it added to the overall listening experience. Anyways, I digress - "First" is one of the most upbeat songs on WAR, and offers some of its catchiest moments.
The title-track of WAR is my favorite. "War" finds Alessi singing gentle rising harmonies backed by some acoustic guitar and piano, and boy, is it poignant. Most of the song is just the word "War" repeated over and over, but it's downright beautiful. The soaring run of notes in the chorus is genius. And regardless, I appreciate the time Alessi must have taken to layer as many vocal tracks into his harmonies as he did, because it really paid off in the end.
Another album highlight are the back-to-back "Street Lights" and "In Hell." This is going to sound strange, but in the best way possible, "Street Lights" reminds me of the video games I used to play in the 90's. That's right, I could totally hear this track playing behind some Donkey Kong Country action... No, but seriously, "Street Lights" gives Alessi an urgent canvas on which to paint his self-aware lyrics - "I used to be honest... I used to be loyal." "In Hell" finds Alessi playing with catchy background vocal samples, and is the perfect example of how adept Alessi is at painting a somber picture with his electronic soundscapes. Luckily, it never becomes too much of a drag to listen to.
Alessi's cover of Astronauts Etc.'s "Mystery Colors" is an outlier on this album, sampling a simple acoustic guitar riff over a "stomp-stomp-clap" beat. Whereas most of Alessi's tracks are otherwise densely layered, this simple track is a breath of fresh air (even though I didn't really need one). I guess it goes without saying that the final track on this album, "Machine Man," follows in the footsteps of "War" and "Mystery Colors" before it. I like WAR's electronica moments too, but at the end of the day, all Alessi really needs to make great music is himself and some acoustic instruments.
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