Ben Folds 'Way To Normal'

Posted in Music by darrynking on Oct 08, 01:00PM

Ben Folds
Way To Normal
Sony/BMG

With Folds divorcing his third wife of nine years in 2007, it’s no surprise that much of Way To Normal is preoccupied with the deterioration of relationships. But sullen it is not.

In fact, tracks like ‘Dr Yang’, ‘Bitch Went Nuts’ and ‘Errant Dog’ recapture the idiosyncratic energy of Ben Folds Five, recalling the time when Folds’s credo was to make ‘punk for sissies’. The tracks are infused with the familiar goofy backing vocals and muscular fuzz bass, topped off with Folds at his most potty-mouthed. At one point on the record, apparently spontaneously, Folds declares "holy fucking shit!", which elicits laughter from a band-mate. It’s difficult to imagine anything like this on the highly polished Rockin’ The Suburbs or the vaguely adult contemporary Songs For Silverman.

That’s not to say Folds has lost his knack for introspection: 'Cologne' and 'Kylie From Connecticut' are melancholic chamber pop masterpieces. As usual, Folds knows not to overplay the emotion: in the case of 'Cologne', the potential sappiness is offset with an intentionally distracting reference to the Lisa Nowak incident. Still, they are a gorgeous pair of tracks.

There are a few misstep, though. ‘Hiroshima’, Folds’s homage to ‘Bennie and the Jets’ (and a very literal account of his falling off the stage in Japan), is a slightly underwhelming opener; and the quasi-electronic ‘Free Coffee’ (with producer Dennis Herring creating the beat out of tinnitus-esque static) is adventurous but a little cold.

But, for the most part, the album sparkles with Folds’ wit, candor and legendary melodies: especially the stomping ‘Brainwascht’, the deceptively catchy ‘You Don’t Know Me’ (featuring Regina Spektor practicing her vocal scales) and the ethereal ‘Effington’.

It would be remiss to not mention the tracks off the fake album that Folds mischievously leaked earlier in the year, featuring a wonderful and legitimate version of 'Cologne', plus six new tracks that sound like Folds’s audition tape to Trey Parker and Matt Stone, littered with painful pop earnestness (“Why do we frown?”) and dubious political rhetoric (“The children sad and hungry but they don’t even care”). It’s an exquisitely ridiculous companion piece to a bold album.

Darryn King