Singer-songwriter Benji Taylor has been prolific at creating music; firstly with his previous bands The Bedroom Text and Beach Hotel and now as an emerging solo artist. This month he releases a new single called “Such is Life”, which was recorded last October at the Magic Garden Studios in Wolverhampton and features Joe Grange of former Bournemouth band Cherry Lotus on backing vocals and guitar. The track is part of a forthcoming EP release.
The song was written at a difficult time when Benji honestly explains he had completely gone off the rails; after playing a gig he had some sort of emotional breakdown, fuelled by booze and drugs. It was an incredibly embarrassing show, mainly with him stumbling all over the stage. On the way back to his home in London he was extremely drunk and becoming a hassle to those around him who were trying to get back home. He explains “this song represents that night, amongst many others where I realised my past problems had gotten out of hand. It’s a shrug of the shoulders saying I’ve gone too far; such is life and the realisation of my emotional overreaction to situations and events, I’m almost trying to claw back my pride after sobering up”.
“Such is Life” shows plenty of light coming through the trees after a long period of darkness, hopefully a lyrical realisation of actions that affect others. I feel like a disapproving parent looking down the nose of the youth of today, of course I was young once. I enjoyed all the trappings and pitfalls of youth and learned my lessons and the only way of doing this is learning for yourself. My own teenage children can be guided, but at the same time I let them make their own decisions on how to live their lives. Wisdom cannot be preached, it can only be learned.
These experiences can help create some great music and Benji puts his heart and soul into this. The joining of forces with Joe Grange is a genius stroke as his previously proven guitar work has brought out some great tracks, just check out that guitar work on “Fake Leather Attitude” by Cherry Lotus on Spotify. The track initially opens with a fine rhythmic backdrop, coupled with a mix of atmospheric guitar sounds that build up to an epic crescendo as the track goes on. With Benji’s passionate darkness-infused vocals and the driving shoegaze effect-fed guitars amid the captivating rhythm structures, this partnership hopefully has a lot more to give in the future. “Such is Life” is out January 24th 2024 and can be found on all streaming platforms.
Links
https://www.facebook.com/benjidoesmusic
https://linktr.ee/benjidoesmusic
Article By David Chinery (Chinners)
