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ZAP 002CD
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Nearly five years on from their acclaimed debut, Bennett Wilson Poole reveal the follow up. That eponymous first album was only ever intended as a one-off collaborative project. A response to the murder of MP Jo Cox, it was something of a fresh take on Crosby Stills Nash and Young's classic protest song "Ohio." The release saw Bennett Wilson Poole embraced by the Americana community, playing live on the Andrew Marr show and crowned as "UK Artist of the Year" at the 2019 UK Americana Awards. The new album came together in similar fashion; Robin (Bennett) and Danny (Wilson) started writing new songs late into the night whilst on tour to promote the first record, and before they knew it, there were enough songs to begin recording an unplanned second album. Where the first record drank deep from '70s US west coast folk-rock, the second has been heavily spiked with 1960s British psychedelia, even featuring a cover by legendary counterculture artist John Hurford. Tony Poole's meticulous and inspired production has spun Robin and Danny's fresh batch of songs into a delicate web of musical delight. Fans of the "spot the reference" game Tony started on the first record won't be disappointed this time either, as there are plenty more to be found here. As with the first album, the lyrics don't shy away from current affairs -- by the end of that year of touring, the band were already playing "I Wanna Love You (But I Can't Right Now)," reflecting on the state of US politics, yet optimistic that the problems are only temporary. Many of the tracks on the new album feature live rhythm section Fin Kenny (drums) and Joe Bennett (bass) for the first time on a BWP record. The title of the album comes from the lyrics of "Help Me See My Way," the first single, a prayer for strength in difficult times, the trippy animated video for which was originally issued during lockdown. The dreamy positivity of the line "I saw a star behind your eyes" is tempered with the plea "don't let it die away", a message which feels as important as ever two years on.
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LP
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ZAP 002LP
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LP version. Nearly five years on from their acclaimed debut, Bennett Wilson Poole reveal the follow up. That eponymous first album was only ever intended as a one-off collaborative project. A response to the murder of MP Jo Cox, it was something of a fresh take on Crosby Stills Nash and Young's classic protest song "Ohio." The release saw Bennett Wilson Poole embraced by the Americana community, playing live on the Andrew Marr show and crowned as "UK Artist of the Year" at the 2019 UK Americana Awards. The new album came together in similar fashion; Robin (Bennett) and Danny (Wilson) started writing new songs late into the night whilst on tour to promote the first record, and before they knew it, there were enough songs to begin recording an unplanned second album. Where the first record drank deep from '70s US west coast folk-rock, the second has been heavily spiked with 1960s British psychedelia, even featuring a cover by legendary counterculture artist John Hurford. Tony Poole's meticulous and inspired production has spun Robin and Danny's fresh batch of songs into a delicate web of musical delight. Fans of the "spot the reference" game Tony started on the first record won't be disappointed this time either, as there are plenty more to be found here. As with the first album, the lyrics don't shy away from current affairs -- by the end of that year of touring, the band were already playing "I Wanna Love You (But I Can't Right Now)," reflecting on the state of US politics, yet optimistic that the problems are only temporary. Many of the tracks on the new album feature live rhythm section Fin Kenny (drums) and Joe Bennett (bass) for the first time on a BWP record. The title of the album comes from the lyrics of "Help Me See My Way," the first single, a prayer for strength in difficult times, the trippy animated video for which was originally issued during lockdown. The dreamy positivity of the line "I saw a star behind your eyes" is tempered with the plea "don't let it die away", a message which feels as important as ever two years on.
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AUR 021CD
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Danny Wilson (Danny And The Champions Of The World, Grand Drive), and Robin Bennett (The Dreaming Spires, Goldrush, Saint Etienne) join forces with Tony Poole (Starry Eyed And Laughing), producer extraordinaire, and king of the electric twelve-string Rickenbacker. Their voices, guitars, and songwriting combining to marvelous effect in a collection of songs that began as uplifting acoustic music and grew into something far more wide-ranging and transcendent. Pulling on influences from the '60s pop of The Byrds, The Beatles, and The Beach Boys, through to the harmonies of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, with dashes of Petty and Springsteen thrown in for good measure, perhaps the most remarkable thing is that what shines through all of this is the quality and originality of the songwriting. The songs deal with wide-ranging issues and personal truths, from the aptly-titled opener "Soon Enough" through the biographical tale of Danny's family in "Wilson General Store", and the politically-charged rallying cry of "Hate Won't Win" to the social commentary of album-closer "Lifeboat (Take a Picture of Yourself)". All three collaborators have had critical acclaim in their own right. Danny Wilson's credentials go back to his days in Grand Drive with brother Julian, and his consistent high-caliber output with his Champions Of The World led them to sweeping the board at the first UK Americana Awards with "Album", "Artist" and "Song" of the year awards richly deserved; Tony Poole's Starry Eyed And Laughing were hailed as "the English Byrds" on the back of their two CBS-released albums in the mid-seventies and he has since built an enviable reputation as producer and engineer; Robin Bennett has been relentlessly turning out timeless songs from his Oxfordshire base in bands from Goldrush to The Dreaming Spires, alongside founding two award-winning festivals (Truck and Wood) and lending his multi-instrumental skills to Saint Etienne. But in Bennett Wilson Poole, the trio seem to have stumbled upon that rarity of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.
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AUR 021LP
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LP version. Danny Wilson (Danny And The Champions Of The World, Grand Drive), and Robin Bennett (The Dreaming Spires, Goldrush, Saint Etienne) join forces with Tony Poole (Starry Eyed And Laughing), producer extraordinaire, and king of the electric twelve-string Rickenbacker. Their voices, guitars, and songwriting combining to marvelous effect in a collection of songs that began as uplifting acoustic music and grew into something far more wide-ranging and transcendent. Pulling on influences from the '60s pop of The Byrds, The Beatles, and The Beach Boys, through to the harmonies of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, with dashes of Petty and Springsteen thrown in for good measure, perhaps the most remarkable thing is that what shines through all of this is the quality and originality of the songwriting. The songs deal with wide-ranging issues and personal truths, from the aptly-titled opener "Soon Enough" through the biographical tale of Danny's family in "Wilson General Store", and the politically-charged rallying cry of "Hate Won't Win" to the social commentary of album-closer "Lifeboat (Take a Picture of Yourself)". All three collaborators have had critical acclaim in their own right. Danny Wilson's credentials go back to his days in Grand Drive with brother Julian, and his consistent high-caliber output with his Champions Of The World led them to sweeping the board at the first UK Americana Awards with "Album", "Artist" and "Song" of the year awards richly deserved; Tony Poole's Starry Eyed And Laughing were hailed as "the English Byrds" on the back of their two CBS-released albums in the mid-seventies and he has since built an enviable reputation as producer and engineer; Robin Bennett has been relentlessly turning out timeless songs from his Oxfordshire base in bands from Goldrush to The Dreaming Spires, alongside founding two award-winning festivals (Truck and Wood) and lending his multi-instrumental skills to Saint Etienne. But in Bennett Wilson Poole, the trio seem to have stumbled upon that rarity of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.
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