Most artists spend a lot of time questioning things\u2014Why? How? What if? These are the questions that spark new creations and directions.<\/p>\n
In many cases, somewhere along their own unique creative path, an artist will encounter a moment where it feels like something is off\u2014a moment where they may ask those questions of themselves. For example: What if, instead of doing what my audience expects, I let go of every single preconception that either of us has about my work, and just followed wherever my instincts lead me?<\/i><\/p>\n
These are the sorts of questions I imagine Ben Bostick asked himself around the time he came up with the idea for his new album Become Other<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Over the past decade singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist-producer Bostick has built a community of fans and followers. Starting out in the \u201coutlaw country\u201d genre\u2014think Willie and Waylon and Kris\u2014he developed a reputation as an uncommonly thoughtful songwriter, as well as a gifted, charismatic performer who thoroughly inhabits the characters in his songs. <\/p>\n
Each new outing represented an evolution of some sort, from the winking parodies of his debut EP My Country<\/i> (2015) to the rangy subject matter of Ben Bostick<\/i> (2017), to the wildman-on-a-bender honky-tonk rave-up Hellfire<\/i> (2018), to the much quieter, hung-over-and-regretful Among The Faceless Crowd<\/i> (2020). Then came his first breakout album, the deeply personal singer-songwriter collection Grown Up Love<\/i> (2021)\u2014and then he circled back for a fresh round of outlaw country on The Rascal Is Back<\/i> (2023).<\/p>\n
In other words, his creative path sketched a circle, returning him more or less to where he began. The Rascal Is Back<\/i> is a terrific collection of songs, that has been his most popular recording to date\u2014and also an album Bostick says he found unfulfilling to make<\/a>, because there was no real creative growth or challenge, just further honing of his songwriting and performance skills. At the same time, he observed how AI was threatening to make his art and trade obsolete, and zeroed in on one thing AI cannot do: infuse art with meaning.<\/p>\n So Bostick considered the path he\u2019d traveled, set his eyes on the horizon, and struck out for the most distant point he could imagine.<\/p>\n Given the scarcity of comparable work out there, the temptation is to categorize Bostick\u2019s new album Become Other<\/i> as a rock opera, but in fact it\u2019s neither rock nor opera\u2014more like a symphony that could double as the soundtrack to a stage musical. It\u2019s a concept album in the truest sense, a linear narrative running 52 minutes, nominally broken into four movements of three segments each, with each movement running 11 minutes or more. The story it tells is fantastical\u2014a psychological myth with lyrics about faith and damnation, fate and free will, monsters and vines. And while the music of Become Other<\/i> is chiefly orchestral, it also dips into hip-hop, industrial, r&b, ambient, and Broadway.<\/p>\n In other words, it\u2019s really, really, really different\u2014which is startling, and also thrilling.<\/p>\n Movement I (\u201cThe Tangle\u201d \/ \u201cHeavy Heart\u201d \/ \u201cStar Crossed\u201d) opens with a breath, giving life to both his protagonist and a new creative paradigm for Bostick. The orchestra eases into view, conjuring an eerie soundscape dominated by buzzing synths, until a breakdown to just bass and electronic percussion introduces a hip-hop-themed tour through this hellish place.<\/p>\n The \u201cHeavy Heart\u201d segment moves the music to a quieter space. \u201cI was born with a heavy heart,\u201d sings Bostick against a billowing backdrop of synths and percussion. \u201cIt broke me, mama, and I cannot be repaired.\u201d The sizzling, ominous synths and spooky percussion return for \u201cStar Crossed\u201d as our narrator declares \u201cI am cursed, I am tortured by the object of my dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n Using both natural ability and production techniques, Bostick transforms his voice again and again between and within segments, bringing added dimension to different moments. This ability shouldn\u2019t surprise; Bostick\u2019s outsider-country identity has always felt like a part he was playing, with an inherent theatricality.<\/p>\n Erasing any remaining doubts about range, Movement II (\u201cFlying High\u201d \/ \u201cGNTL HZ\u201d \/ \u201cEyes In The Vines\u201d) opens with a smooth electro r&b flow that works beautifully, as Bostick\u2019s narrator experiences momentary euphoria (\u201cFlying High\u201d is also the album\u2019s first single<\/a>). The music turns ambient for the spare, serene instrumental \u201cGNTL HZ,\u201d featuring synth harp and strings, all seeming calm until we flow directly into \u201cEyes In The Vines,\u201d a waking nightmare that finds our narrator\u2019s mental state continuing to deteriorate.<\/p>\n Movement III (\u201cThe Weaver\u201d \/ \u201cCocoon\u201d \/ \u201cBecome Other\u201d) opens with a thumping industrial segment as Bostick\u2019s filtered-and-distorted vocals essay a dialogue between man and mirror. Middle segment \u201cCocoon\u201d features a dramatic soliloquy with orchestral backing, as our narrator realizes the source of his problems: himself. \u201cThe doctor and the disease \/ The spider caught in what he weaves \/ If I can make \/ My own prison, I know \/ I can break it.\u201d The album\u2019s title segment employs the eternal tension between dark and light as backdrop for our narrator\u2019s moment of transformation: \u201cA new creation is dawning \/ Silence the heart and be still \/ And become other.\u201d<\/p>\n The final movement (IV, \u201cWorld Without Measure\u201d \/ \u201cBy Darkness Forged\u201d \/ \u201cTransfigured Night\u201d) opens with triumphant orchestral music; our narrator\u2019s eyes have been opened and he\u2019s finally fully awake: <\/p>\n \u201cMy senses The whole world This moment bleeds into \u201cBy Darkness Forged,\u201d an anthem to resilience, with church organ overtones emphasizing the spiritual component of the message: \u201cI am the light by darkness forged \/ I can\u2019t be dimmed nor be put out \/ Oh I, I am the night \/ I am the faith tempered in doubt.\u201d Final segment \u201cTransfigured Night\u201d serves as the denouement, gentle and contemplative, reprising various themes from throughout the piece on its way to a gentle close.<\/p>\n Other than Amanda Belair\u2019s background vocals on \u201cFlying High,\u201d Bostick created every sound heard on this album, and self-produced it in his home studio. The only way to appreciate the full scope of that accomplishment\u2014and it is genuinely astonishing\u2014is to listen.<\/p>\n Okay, fine, say\u00a0Curious Reader\u2026 but what\u2019s the album about? <\/p>\n The album is about\u2026 the album.<\/p>\n No, seriously: Ben Bostick has created a work of art that\u2019s about the act of creating art, and how the light of creation can help to free an artist from darkness. It also touches on the divine essence of the act of creation, inasmuch as forging a new piece of art is as close as humans will ever get to playing God. <\/p>\n Additionally, there\u2019s an important message about the nature of art. At its core, art is all about transformation: mostly about the artist transforming an idea into a finished work, but also about how the act of creation transforms the artist. It\u2019s clear from talking with Bostick<\/a> that the act of creating Become Other<\/i> has transformed him in meaningful ways, allowing him to stretch himself in ways that genre-based work couldn\u2019t. <\/p>\n The beauty of Become Other<\/i>\u2014beyond the achievement itself\u2014is that it obliterates all expectations for what Ben Bostick might do next. It\u2019s a declaration of artistic independence, a flex of creative muscles that showcases the breadth of his abilities and creative imagination. Whether his next project is outsider country, singer-songwriter, a Broadway musical, or a film score, he\u2019s already proven he has both the vision and the compositional, technical and performance skills to pull it off. I can\u2019t wait to hear what happens next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":35259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[10172],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-47145","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-ben-bostick","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=47145"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=47145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
A prism
Infinite
My vision
Now I see\u2026<\/p>\n
Is glory
The whole world
Is within me\u201d<\/p>\n