Benmont Tench – The Melancholy Season
The sophomore effort from Benmont Tench – best known as the longtime keyboardist and co-founding member of Tom Petty’s band The Heartbreakers – comes just over a decade after his solo debut. The album’s title is fairly apt, as Tench, with the help of some guests, reels through more than a dozen moody, often atmospheric tracks.
The opening title song, a beautifully sad piano ballad, lays out what to expect from the album. What follows is a collection of slow-to-mid-tempo rockers with nods to Americana here and there, but the lyrics are always front and center as Tench vacillates between singing about a slew of flawed characters and often deeply personal revelations.
On “Pledge,” lyrically a powerful track, he sings “And Jesus ain’t the only one that weeps at the sight of human unkindness/and Jesus ain’t the only one that weeps at the evil we do one another,” over a steady tambourine and lonely organ line. “Rattle” is a throwback to classic ‘50s rock and roll, while “Not Enough” has a strong psychedelic rock vibe reminiscent of The Zombies. There are some more muted moments on the record, like the back-to-back songs “Wobbles” and “You, Again,” two seemingly sweet songs about love but whose sparse arrangements and execution just sound a bit startling and pulls the listener out of the album’s earlier momentum.
Produced by Jonathan Wilson (Father John Misty, Margo Price, Billy Strings), Tench turned to a handful of guests to fill out the record including Taylor Goldsmith from Dawes, Nickel Creek’s Sara Watkins, Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing) and singer Jenny O. among others. There are no rousing Heartbreaker-like singalongs here, but what Tench does offer is a deeply personal, introspective record that grows on you with repeated listens. His voice, which initially sounds shaky and unsure, actually works well the deeper you get into the record, showcasing a vulnerability that adds to the music.
Find more details here: https://www.benmonttench.com/
Musicians on the album are Benmont Tench on piano, Molina/arp string ensemble, Wurlitzer, Hohner electric piano, Hohner pianet, Vox continental organ, Hammond C3, orchestra bells, and handclaps; Sebastian Steinberg on bass; Jonathan Wilson on drums, percussion, and guitars; Jenny O on vocals and guitar; Taylor Goldsmith on guitars; and Sara Watkins on vocal harmonies.
The album was produced and mixed by Jonathan Wilson; engineered by Dave Cerminara, Grant Milliken, Jonathan Wilson, Alexander Williams and Mirza Sheriff; and mastered from the original analog tapes by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. It was recorded at Mr Wilson’s lace (fivestarstudios) and at the Village Studios and mixed at Groove Masters with a brilliant idea for intro to “I Will Not Follow You Down” attributed to Glyn Johns.