Ben Carrigan’s CV reads like a musician’s dream. Formerly the sticks man for surf-poppers The Thrills, he shared a stage with The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Pixies, and the now defunct REM among others. He won scholarships from some of the world’s most prestigious music schools, completing a course in the rather grand-sounding ‘Studies in Orchestration’ at the Berklee School of Music. And now, if you were beginning to think he’s an under-achiever, he’s also written and produced his début solo album “The Greatest Narrator”, released in late September of last year.
And it’s a gorgeous piece of work: rich, sophisticated and clearly lovingly put together. Flitting between sweeping ballads and instrumentals, Carrigan layers trinkling pianos, gentle harmonies and strong orchestral arrangements across the eight tracks on here. Influences like Yann Tiersen, Leonard Cohen and Scott Walker do shine through, but without being overwhelming. Short but undeniably sweet, the tracks have a warm and often cinematic feel to them that’s perfect for soundtracking a cosy winter’s evening.
The low-key piano of opener Small Towns (That Heal Big City Wounds) is restrained at first, before delicate strings and drums join in to build up to a gently rousing chorus. It’s a soothing and almost comforting track which sets the tone nicely for the rest of the record. Further on, After Hours in Cairo and Hey Carrie Anne enjoy a sense of timelessness: they could just as well have been written decades ago instead of last year. Simple but affecting string arrangements and somewhat mournful harmonicas join Carrigan’s introspective lyrics: they’re slightly downbeat songs, but beautifully so.
We’ll Talk About It All Tonight is definitely the liveliest number on here – although “lively” is probably too strong a word for it – but it’s also probably the weakest. Carrigan excels in the quieter, heartfelt moments, such as You Knew It All Along and The Last Song. Here, his strengths as a songwriter become obvious. Never overdoing a song, he allows the soft melodies and mellow harmonies to remain powerful despite their subtlety.
Saying that, it’s the two instrumentals that particularly stand out. No Prizes for Second Place is four minutes of wistful, romantic brilliance: strings intertwine around a simple piano backing, playful and melancholy at the same time. Closer Flashbacks, with its graceful piano and sombre strings,showcases Carrigan’s abilities as a composer, providing a suitably elegant finish to the album.
Just half an hour long, “The Greatest Narrators” is an effortless listen. Shaking off his west coast pop past, Ben Carrigan has created an intimate and enduring record, definitely marking his place as one to watch in the future.