Benjamin James Howard announces debut solo album, Vestiges, and Album Release Party at Second Sight Spirits on Friday, November 22nd!
“It is me, and it is not me,” states Benjamin James Howard when referring to “Vestiges,” a 10-track album which serves as his first complete work as a solo act. “This is essentially a cover album—an artist pushing forty playing material he mostly wrote at half his age.”
Howard was a front-man of Cincinnati-based rock groups Bottom Line and Pluto Revolts, the former notoriously reaching major-label status in the mid-2000s before stifling label mergers indefinitely shelved their masters. Vestiges reclaims selections of Howard’s contribution to that fateful Maverick/Warner record, while also shedding light on other unexplored corners of his songbook.
What Vestiges aims to achieve is reconciliation with the past, in both practice and concept. The album provides a literal home (or rather, resting place) for songs that never quite fit the mold of Howard’s past projects, while also serving as a reliquary for the musings of his younger self. Stylistically, there are equally bright and poppy songs intermixed with somber, emotional ballads—all performed acoustically. The album is meant to feel as confident as it is vulnerable, with lyrical topics ranging from self-assurance to self-doubt; from burgeoning love to parental divorce. However, any pessimism on display is always laced with a degree of optimism.
