Seven years after he seemed to disappear from the global rock/grunge/punk/blues scene, I was delighted to come across a scorching glimpse of Booker’s new album LOWER. At the time of release, 24th January 2025, it will be his first solo album released via major distributors in eight years. Just before the New Year, he gave fans a peak at three early releases:
SAME KIND OF LONELY
SHOW AND TELL
LWA IN THE TRAILER PARK
It's safe to say Booker knows how to make an entrance. You’re given one bar of clean drums before being blown off your feet by a wall of noise, and it’s good! This menacing, warm, fuzzy germanium tidal wave smashes its shoulder into your sternum and carries you off into the sunset.
A less focused artist might get carried away with this joyously messy production, letting it get too wide and noisy. Booker’s new producer, Kenny Segal1, helps expertly cut the fuzz for half a beat so that Booker’s rasping croon can ring out on its own. Controlling the noise is a fine balancing act but the pair keep an expert hold on the reins through all three tracks.
Later in the first track, we’re treated to another cut in the fuzz, off-key harmonies on an old upright piano and then shockingly, perhaps not too dissimilar to something like David Bowie’s Valentine’s Day, we get a sense of the symptoms of loneliness Booker is interrogating. The samples of CCTV-recorded gunshots send a shiver down the spine, the noise and fuzz become harsher and the piano more sinister but there’s still an overwhelming sense of hope. The screams turn to a baby’s cries and the notes become more positive, gliding up towards a more euphoric ending with shimmering tremolo to add an extra level of intensity and movement as the song concludes.
Moving onto track two, SHOW AND TELL, which will also be the song immediately after SAME KIND OF LONELY on the final album, we lose the fuzz and we’re back to a more familiar acoustic setting that I associate with his previous records. There’s something very cosy about this track, mostly rooted in the heightened vinyl/room crackles running through the recording. The higher guitar trills lift the track and balance the lower registers of the other instruments. It feels warm and analogue while still threatening to unleash more dirt during the chorus. There is a slight sense of irony creeping through, harking back to the blues tradition where lyrical meaning is often inverted - happy sounding songs being full of melancholy and vice versa. While these three songs feature lots of lyrical repetition, each repeat carries a new meaning and weight depending on Booker’s artful use of emphasis.
LWA IN THE TRAILER PARK has attitude, the drums are more in your face and a ghoulish swagger seems to run through the track, aided by a pulsating bass synth adding a real sense of confidence and purpose to the piece. Later on, you get the higher counter melody providing a psycho-esque parody. It feels tantalisingly dangerous. Despite having few lyrics, this track reveals the most about the album, especially when paired with its music video. The mention of ‘Marinette’2 a Loa or LWA (or perhaps even ‘LOWER’), is the Haitian spirit of violence and power and alludes to the idea that Booker will be drawing from black diasporic religions to provide unique language for his new and staggeringly raw sound. I hope he indulges in making videos for the rest of his tracks as there seems a strong sense of narrative running through the two videos already released. Actress Priscilla Akinyemi seems to embody ‘Marinette’, or an envoy of hers, in the SAME KIND OF LONELY video showing a fascinating cross-pollination between the songs and their videos - the most obvious link being Booker and the edgy, troubled, character that he plays.
LOWER has the potential to kick-start 2025 with a dramatic new sound, channelled into a beautifully cohesive album. Once it takes hold, you may find it hard to put down.
Listen below:
‘Booker’s Back’, Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/benjamin-booker-lower-new-song-lwa-in-the-trailer-park-1235135029/.