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<\/p>\nTamaki-Makarau-based indie-folk artist Ben Chavasse is no stranger to honing his craft. Having won Smokefree Rockquest at age 16, he\u2019s been slowly refining it ever since \u2013 and now, he\u2019s stepped triumphantly into the open with his debut album, Boxing, an impressive 10-track compilation. The album is produced by Ben and Michael Luke Howell, who has also worked with artists like The Beths.<\/p>\n
The album opens with Letdown, which was also Ben\u2019s debut single, released in June. The song was originally written in 2019, heavily leaning on the relationships of students to mentors and teachers. It\u2019s a great opener for Boxing, immediately making Ben stand out as a master of narrative storytelling. Chugga is slightly more electronic, with more of an emphasis on guitar. With themes of absence and abandonment, the vocals convey a sense of moving yet hopeful emotion.<\/p>\n
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Dry is one of the album\u2019s highlights. It feels heavier than some of Boxing\u2019s other tracks in terms of its guitar incorporation, and has a sense of apprehension, especially in the lyrics \u2018I won\u2019t go out on the street tonight.\u2019 The style here personally reminded me of songs from the film Sing Street, which is admittedly a personal favourite.<\/p>\n
The first few seconds of Surrender are quiet, before making an unexpected pivot into heavy drum-style beats. With an upbeat rhythm, it\u2019s the type of track you could easily dance to in your bedroom or at an event with your friends. Surrender also showcases Ben\u2019s vocal prowess well \u2013 as the album progresses, his range becomes clearer and more impressive, hitting notes in an effortless manner.<\/p>\n
Pip Dog marks the album\u2019s centre, and was the second single from the album. Featuring lyrics like \u2018I went to seagulls at the scrap \/ they knew me then and they lunged at it\u2019\u00a0and \u2018please don\u2019t lock me out \/ I\u2019m only a kid comprehending myself\u2019, Ben embraces here something that feels like a universal struggle \u2013 attempting to find yourself, and reconciling with the fact that sometimes you feel like an outsider. Clouds is full of soft guitar and contemplative energy, with some stunning backing vocals. Ben\u2019s narrative talent shines, waxing lyrical with lines like \u2018I had to find a way over party lines\u2019 and \u2018I know it\u2019s so hard to be on all the time \/ give myself one more chance to reconsider.\u2019\u00a0It\u2019s another example of his work exploring relatable themes, as seen in Pip Dog.\u00a0It feels like a call for companionship and understanding in a difficult season, with the lingering promise of better moments coming.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s Gonna Leave also features twangs of guitar, with a haunting background. It\u2019s easy to get the sense of shifting away, with both the vocals and instrumentals almost seeming nostalgic for the present moment. In the transition to Stakes,\u00a0things shift. It\u2019s heavier on the drums and leans more into a deliberate and adolescent lens with its lyrics discussing topics like \u2018being 18\u2019 and the anticipation of meeting people for the first time. It\u2019s one of the longer tracks on the album, making it easy to become engulfed by it. On an album that\u2019s full of strong points, Stakes might be the highest of them all.<\/p>\n
Echoes Behind and Better are the closing tracks of Boxing, and it\u2019s worth saying that Echoes Behind tugs on the heartstrings from the moment the opening verse begins. The song includes lyrics like \u2018making you feel like a child \/ the blame you reconcile,\u2019 and re-leans into that nostalgic feeling that Ben does such a good job of capturing. Better is slightly more twangy and has more of a jazz influence than some of the past tracks.<\/p>\n
Across the entirety of Boxing, the core is Ben\u2019s lyric-forward approach, clear narrative talent and an ability to wear his emotions on his sleeve while blending genres seamlessly. It\u2019s an incredibly strong debut album from an artist who has been refining his art for an extended period, and now that Ben Chavasse is in the mainstream, audiences will no doubt be excitedly waiting for his next move.<\/p>\n
Chantal Dalebroux<\/p>\n
Boxing is released Thursday, September 25th<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Tickets for Ben\u2019s release show for Boxing with Benjamin Mack on September 27 are available now: https:\/\/www.undertheradar.co.nz\/gig\/98341\/Ben-Chavasse-Boxing-Album-Release-Show-With-Benjamin-Mack.utr<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/a>
<\/a>Latest posts by Chantal Dalebroux (see all<\/a>) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tamaki-Makarau-based indie-folk artist Ben Chavasse is no stranger to honing his craft. Having won Smokefree Rockquest at age…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-160198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}