Album Review

Ben Folds – Way To Normal

• 29th Oct 2008

Ben Folds isn’t one to let the grass grow under his feet. He been producing, he’s collaborating with author and fan Nick Hornby, he reunited Ben Folds Five for a one-off gig and has even found time to release ‘Way To Normal’, his third solo album. It is an album similar to his albums gone by, a selection of upbeat tracks and some awesome piano playing from Folds.

The tracks manage to be both funny and sad at the same time, and mostly address personal relationships. Tracks such as ‘Bitch Went Nuts’, which describes a woman who stabs a basketball and photoshops Folds’ face “onto the body of every boy who has done her wrong”, is tongue in cheek, and although there might be a small group who complain about the misogyny of the lyrics, they shouldn’t get on a soap box too soon, as you get the impression Folds is only half serious.

‘Colonge’ is one of the more poignant tracks on the album, with Folds reading an amusing story about an astronaut and wishing he could share it with his ex – the sad chorus of “4-3-2-1, I’m letting you go” could shatter even the stoniest of hearts.

‘You Don’t Know Me’, a terrific duet with the fantastic Regina Spektor, sees the two of them verbally sparring about how little supposedly intimate people know each other. Spektor adds some extra depth to the track and it highlights how well Folds works with female singer/songwriters.

Album closer ‘Kylie From Connecticut’ is about a neglected wife who lies to herself about her husband’s infidelity until it slaps her in the face. Mr Folds is not afraid to sing about what he’s thinking that’s for sure.

‘Way To Normal’ probably won’t propel Folds to super-stardom, but he’s probably pretty content looking in from the outside. If you like good piano compositions and a huge dollop of irony, you won’t go too far wrong with Mr Folds.