‘A Year in The Life of Life’ quite simply blew me away when I first heard it because, when you listen to as many records as I do, it becomes difficult to discover anything, which truly sounds fresh and new. Records like The Smiths ‘Hatful of Hollow’ or ‘Hopes & Fears’ by Keane do come along occasionally, but you have to listen to an awful amount of uninspired or average albums before you will find a record of real quality.

         Inspiration is often something that comes in a moment and is gone in a flash. So it is a skill in itself to be able to grasp an idea, develop it and mould it into a song. To then have the ability to repeat such a feat, to re-inspire yourself and create the mindset which works towards creating an album worthy of similarly inspired works is, however, an even rarer skill.

         ‘A Year In The Life of Life’ quite simply is one such album. Fairlight’s association with nature and knowledge of plants, birds, animals and the ebb and flow of the universe through time has been perfectly captured for all to hear, making for a captivating listen.

         Personal demons leap about within the grooves just as much as on any other singer/songwriter's record, but here they show themselves either as naked as the day they were born or as elusive as a Chameleon on the bark of a tree. Do I see the real Ben Fairlight when I listen to ‘September Solo’ and hear its message as “September – so low” or do I hear the echo of my own inner fears resonating back to me through Ben’s words and voice? Is Ben truly announcing his endless struggle to cope with life on ‘May Day Mayday’ or am I simply applying his words to my own life and noting the song's many false endings as Ben’s attempt to process such occasionally all-consuming frustration?

         “Whatever we do is all about us, allegedly”, Ben once told me. So am I right in thinking that ‘A Year in The Life of Life’ is not just an album about the changing of the seasons but an album about the rings inside the Fairlight tree?

         And what kind of music am I talking about, here? Well, Ben sings rather like a Troubadour from a by-gone age and plays with the dexterity of a classically trained musician, mixed with a seasoned folk/protest singer.

         Take ‘March Hare Marches’, for example. As passionate a protest song as you will ever hear, Ben’s love for nature and belief in the freedom of all of creatures is brilliantly portrayed in his vocal delivery. Controlled emotion, it may appear - but listen carefully to the intricate musical accompaniment, the ‘fizzing’ strings mimicking the buzzing of insects and you soon realise that Fairlight has poured every ounce of emotion into creating this music – his music. Intended to place your mind out into the country in the midst of swaying verdant grass, you are then witness to every movement and characteristic of the March hare and its habitat. “Do you not care? Can you not care?” Asks Ben.

         ‘July Lullaby’ meanwhile simply drips with emotion. Ben’s voice may not be pitch perfect at times here but once you get used to his odd vocal delivery you find yourself drawn ever closer into the spell of this song. “And though I’m sleeping, you know I ain’t done weeping, ‘Cos you come creeping into my lost dreams - Bo-Peeping”, sings Ben, amidst a spacious musical arrangement whilst playing acoustic guitar. In fact, what is so true of this track (and indeed of the whole album) is that the fastest way to ruin it would be to iron out all of the ‘errors’. Emotion, true emotion, meaning and feeling can so often be sterilized by production techniques and it is the very rawness of this record, which elevates it to the greatness of ‘Hatful of Hollow’ (as opposed to the mediocrity of The Smiths first studio album, ‘The Smiths’).

         While Ben admits to ‘trying to write about each particular month in the year’ after first being inspired to write 'April Waltz', contrived is the very last word I would wish to associate with this album. Sure, Ben may well have been driven by an idea to create a musical collage to portray his life during 2009-2010, but the feelings, wisdom, wit, observation and emotions put into the creation of this album were drawn from a lifetime of knowledge and personal experience - and it shows…

         I could go on and on (and on and on and on and on – 'May Day Mayday') about the merits of this record but instead I hope that by now my words will have encouraged you enough to seek out a copy, so you can experience it for yourself.

Downloads of  ‘A Year in the Life of Life’ are available NOW from…

http://benfairlight.bandcamp.com/

http://youtu.be/JBV1rUBfSNg - LINK TO ‘THIRTEEN FACES” VIDEO ANDY

http://youtu.be/yG3pbNXPPTA - LINK TO ‘JUNE TUNE’ VIDEO ANDY

Or for more information on Ben Fairlight please visit the following web addresses:

http://www.songstory.co.uk/

http://specialistpianoservices.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/BenFairlightMusic