I'll do the dishes if you do delicious

After a very exhausting but very fun weekend, I'm back; it's amazing how much happens when you're away from a computer only for several days. Anyhow, I've decided that if I'm going to justify my random periodic updates about him, I need to actually post some of his music, so the focus of the next two days will be Ben Adams. We'll start of today with the songs he's actually released and songs he's put on his MySpace, and then move tomorrow to his album sampler.

Ben Adams became famous as a member of UK boyband a1, which released three albums from 1999 to 2002 before disbanding. In spring 2005, Ben began his solo career by releasing the single "Sorry," which charted at #18 in the UK. Hs album, tentatively called It's Brutal Out There, is supposedly still going to be released at some point, though given that it's been a year and a half since his first and only single was released, I'm skeptical as to whether that will ever happen. I'd love it to, though, because Ben's music has a very distinctive and fun style; in just about every review or interview, he was compared to Justin Timberlake, but I'm not totally sure I hear that (maybe "Cry Me A River" has some similarities, but as a whole, I'd disagree). A lot of his music does have a sort of experimental sound--it's definitely pop, but it sounds like Ben (or whoever was in charge) spent a lot of time playing around with the production of it.

Sorry--Ben's debut single. I really can't give it a better review than this one over at Enthusiastic But Mediocre. There are so many things going on here--drums, firecracker-esque screeches, horns, thunder, and Ben's continual apology and description of the sheer awfulness of the thing he's done wrong (though the song never actually says what that is, according to Ben, that "thing" is cheating on his girlfriend when he thought she was cheating on him, only to find out she wasn't cheating--whether or not that's just a nice story for promotional purposes is anyone's guess, but the song itself is great).

Delicious--a B-side to "Sorry" that's really working the whole metaphor angle for all it's worth. Not as dark or quite as complex as "Sorry," but possibly more fun, with some handclap-like sounds in the background. Ben's songs often seem to be more about beat than a flowy melody, but they still sound like music and are definitely catchy.

That's Why I Love You--moving onto songs from Ben's MySpace, we have this minimal, piano-backed ballad that is a huge departure from either of the two songs; it's a lot more traditional. It's less exciting than some of Ben's other songs, but if you're in a ballad mood, it's not bad; in the right mood, it could come off as quite sweet (but, in the wrong mood, it could possibly seem boring). (You can also head over to Poptastic for what might be a higher quality version of this song.)

Broken Bird--another MySpace song, this one written for his mother (I'm hoping that's just because she would like it, and not because it describes her). Another ballad, though slightly less minimal and slightly faster than "That's Why I Love You." Sort of meandering and possibly with some jazz influences. For me, it's not quite as exciting as either of the first two songs, but, in a different environment, it could work.

Do You Wrong--a ballad, but more experimental again; in terms of style, even though it's a ballad, it fits better with "Sorry" and "Delicious" than "That's Why I Love You" and "Broken Bird." This is just a minute-long clip, though, including mainly for listening and comparison purposes.

Electric--Ben doesn't actually sing this song--it's a Lisa Scott-Lee song that Ben co-wrote. I think I remember hearing at some point that Ben had considered using it for himself, which might help explain some of the lyrics (though, if a guy had actually been singing this song, that might have been too much for a record label to get on board with it--a little too direct for them, I'm guessing).

To buy Ben Adams's single "Sorry," go here (physical; Amazon's entire description for "Sorry" is "Sleazy contemporary pop from former A1 member," which for some reason I think is really funny...sleazy?) or here (digital); to buy Lisa Scott-Lee's single "Electric," go here (physical). Ben's album really needs to get released--even if all the tracks aren't great, I think a lot of them would be--so buying his single couldn't hurt!

Next up: the second half of the Ben Adams theme--fewer songs, but some really, really good ones (more like the first two of today than the third and fourth).

(Music links gladly and apologetically removed at request; please support the amazing Ben Adams by buying his single, "Sorry," which you can purchase physically here or digitally here.)