Hailing from Antrim, Northern Ireland, Ben Glover moved to the home of some of his country singing predecessors in Nashville, Tennessee two years ago and it’s clearly had quite an effect on him. This is his third album and may be the one that really lights up his career, as listening through, it struck me as a work carefully honed over a lengthy period of time, in a way only someone with a very promising future could do.
‘Before the Birds’ opens with his newest single; ‘Trick of the light’, instantly showing off his voice, which has a smoothness that would probably leave all of Danny Dyers deadliest men crumbling wrecks. The guitar remains subtle throughout the album, meandering around his dulcit tones, and it quickly becomes clear that few aspiring artists could carry this off as well as he has.
On other songs such as Almost Home he incorporates some piano, but this still remains secondary to the vocals and actually gives them quite a powerful backing, despite his easy-going style. This is a more modern approach to country music, still sounding so familiar and homely, but with a voice unique enough to allow him to stand out from his counterparts.
The effortless flow of the album makes it difficult to pick out the strongest tracks. ‘You are the same as the tide’ is probably most suited to mainstream radio and if I was forced to choose I’d have to say ‘Lockdown’ is my favourite.
I have to admit, I was absolutely ignorant of any mention of Ben Glover prior to last week, and for this reason I was preparing myself for yet another run of the mill singer-songwriter album in an already over saturated market. However, Before the birds turned that perception on its head. The albums mellow, soulful feel and brilliantly delivered vocals will appeal to just about anyone.
With songwriters such as Ryan Sheridan making their mark on the Irish music scene, it’s only a matter of time before Ben Glover builds up a similar, if not bigger following here, considering the popularity of Ryan Adams.
So on that note, I’m off to track down and listen to some of his older material, but in the meantime, I’d advise everyone to get their hands on this.