{"title":"Brendan Benson","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBrendan Benson is an American musician and songwriter, born on November 14, 1970 in Royal Oak, Michigan. With a background working at a record shop, Benson has honed his craft and established himself as a talented artist in the music industry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKnown for his unique sound and catchy melodies, Benson draws inspiration from various genres such as rock, pop, and alternative. His music resonates with fans who appreciate thoughtful lyrics and memorable hooks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInfluenced by artists like Ben Kweller, Pernice Brothers, Jellyfish, Jason Falkner, The Posies, Superdrag, Fountains Of Wayne, Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, Velvet Crush,and many others; Brendan Benson's style can be described as a blend of classic influences with a modern twist.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"dear-life","title":"Dear Life","description":"\u003cp\u003eBrendan Benson finds himself in an enviable spot as he enters the third decade of a remarkably creative, consistently idiosyncratic career – an accomplished frontman, musician, songwriter, producer, band member, husband, and dad. Benson’s seventh solo album, and first new LP in almost seven years, Dear Life is this consummate polymath’s most inventive and upbeat work thus far, an 11-track song cycle about life, love, family, fatherhood, and the pure joy of making music. Produced and almost entirely performed by Benson at his own Readymade Studio in Nashville, the album sees the Michigan-born, Nashville-based artist – and co-founder, with Jack White, of The Raconteurs – reveling in a more modernist approach than ever before, fueled by a heady brew of cannabis, hip-hop, and a newly discovered interest in software drum programming. The result is an untapped playfulness that elevates expertly crafted songs like the opener,\u003ci\u003e I Can If You Want Me To\u003c\/i\u003e, and the first single, \u003ci\u003eGood To Be Alive\u003c\/i\u003e, with voluble arrangements, elastic grooves, and incandescent power. Imbued with revitalized ambition and confidence, \u003ci\u003eDear Life \u003c\/i\u003eis Brendan Benson at his very best.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Third Man","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50401479590219,"sku":"1087981","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Pink | LP","offer_id":50401479491915,"sku":"1087982","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50401479819595,"sku":"1087989","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/81f98c26-d32f-4cec-ab83-edc1b22bea7f_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726523180"},{"product_id":"low-key","title":"Low Key","description":"\u003cp\u003eNot every two-year period measures out the same, noted Brendan Benson, the 51-year old Grammy- nominated singer-songwriter and co-founder of The Raconteurs. Benson had just finished his well- received seventh album, \u003ci\u003eDear Life\u003c\/i\u003e in 2019 when his world came to a stop. \"I was rehearsing for South-By-Southwest and gearing up for a tour and had a band ready and then, of course, the world shut down,\" he said in a recent interview. The lockdown then began to reroute lives, societies and ambitions worldwide. \"Everything changed,\" Benson said. \"I went to work on some songs so I'd have new material when things opened up.\" Over months with minimal interactions, those songs coalesced and took on lives of their own, he said. Two years of semi-isolation, of fading relationships, of the natural inward turn that comes with less human contact unexpectedly pushed Benson's song-writing into new places.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Instead of being an afterthought, Benson's solitude evolved into, \u003ci\u003eLow Key\u003c\/i\u003e the eighth album by the idiosyncratic songwriter who has enjoyed both world-wide popularity with the Raconteurs and a devoted cult following for his numerous solo projects. \u003ci\u003eLow Key\u003c\/i\u003e, the Nashville-based artist said, was his chance to explore how lives and relationships changed during the lengthy isolation from the normal interactions of everyday life. Benson might not have written songs such as \"People Grow Apart\" and \"Whole Lotta Nothing\" prior to 2019, he said.  \"The lockdown afforded people the opportunity to cut ties - or maybe it caused people to do that,\" he said. \"Whatever the case may be, a lot of people fell out. But then relationships ending is one of my favourite topics for song writing,\" he said with a laugh. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis isn't to say that the 8-track effort recorded in Benson's own Readymade Studio in Nashville is a grim look at the state of human condition. Just the opposite. The catchy, upbeat lead track \"Ain't No Good,\" pokes fun at destructive self-absorption while the guitar-heavy \"Whatever's On My Mind\" skewers Benson's own hyperkinetic, stream-of-consciousness thinking. And then there's the most unlikely track of all: A cover of Gerry Rafferty's smooth 1978 hit, \"Right Down the Line.\"  The cover was suggested by a friend.  \"She's always been saying I should do that song. I don't normally pay attention when people say that stuff. But then I happened to hear it one day and I said, 'Dang. This is good.' \" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGreg Calbi, the album's mastering engineer at Sterling Sound says: \"Brendan combines the classic 80's style song-writing in the Squeeze, Crowded House vein with some incredible contemporary sonic magic, the kind of album which entices the listener to get tickets to a live show immediately.\" The lockdown that left him mostly with himself, professionally speaking. Confined to his Nashville studio, Benson played every instrument on Low Key and handled all of the initial production. The end result was exactly what Benson had been searching for - even if he didn't know it at the time. Those years spent honing his craft as a songwriter, producer and touring musician, turned what could have been a liability of isolation into something far deeper, a body of work he described as the best of his career.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Schnitzel","offers":[{"title":"Clear | LP","offer_id":50460576710987,"sku":"2000372","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/image003_34c3c2dc_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727234703"},{"product_id":"you-were-right","title":"You Were Right","description":"\u003cp\u003eSometimes, all you need is a little push. After acclaimed singer-songwriter Brendan Benson released his 2012 album 'What Kind of World', his manager suggested he launch a monthly singles series. He was a bit hesitant at first, but eventually he came around. And now, just a year after 'What Kind of World', Benson is back with 'You Were Right', which collects both the releases from the series as well as reworked versions of songs that didn't quite fit on his previous albums. 'You Were Right' finds Benson squarely in his jangly power-pop groove, while also finding room for him to explore his more experimental impulses. Benson recorded 'You Were Right' in his own Readymade Studios andbeing in charge of both the production and release gave Benson the peace of mind to make exactly the record he wanted, all on his own terms.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lojinx","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50470771949899,"sku":"368794","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/1c901215-1bc7-431d-a72f-6169c2962fec_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727382393"},{"product_id":"what-kind-of-world-1","title":"What Kind Of World","description":"\u003cp\u003eself-produced and recorded in the analog-only environs of nashville's 'welcome to 1979' studios, 'what kind of world' features members of big star, ryan adams' the cardinals and phantom planet. co-founder of the raconteurs, benson has spent a lifetime spread across four states, from a childhood spent on the outskirts of new orleans, to his years in detroit, michigan, sojourns in los angeles and san francisco, and a more recent relocation to nashville, tennessee. with five solo albums, one as well and goode and two albums apiece with the mood elevator and raconteurs, he has captured his own america in finely hewn power pop.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50470839222603,"sku":"348252","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50470839681355,"sku":"348253","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8b6e0bc4-7269-4e7f-b067-238f137d03f7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727383868"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_6cc15993_thumbnail_4096_ca8fc1b6-d2f5-48e8-9c9f-a3a451cbb1e8.jpg?v=1726523135","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/brendan-benson.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}