Artist: Ben Marwood
Release: Back Down
Released: 2013
Label: Xtra Mile Recordings
Catalog#: XMRO68CD
Format: FLAC / Lossless / Log (100%) / Cue
[color=blue]Country: UK
Style: folk

01 For the Skin and the Bone
02 These Are The Days When You Can't Go Home
03 The Soundtrack to the Trailer for Your Miserable Christmas Special
04 Under Lock and Key
05 This Industry Eats Its Young
06 I Promise You That It Will Be Okay
07 An Escape From Yeehaw Junction
08 We Are No Longer Twenty-Five
09 Demons
10 Don't Call It A Comeback
11 Murder She Wrote
12 Lake Wales

From the strength of Ben Marwoods debut album, I have been eagerly anticipating his follow up and wondering what he will do next. Ben is one of those unique writers who can quip a phrase that captures what takes other artists five albums to achieve. ‘Back down’ is a beautifully written album full of honesty, it is rare now that writers pour themselves into songs as fully as Ben does. Lines such as ‘maybe I’m only here on the strength of my peers’ shows Ben isn’t afraid to recognise his own fears.

Back down has a maturity that isn’t found in its predecessor, the song writing being more personal and profound. The tone of the album is fairly dark with songs about death, growing old and the unsettling murder ballad ‘under lock and key’. ‘This industry eats its young’ has some lines that had me actually laughing aloud, However dark this album gets songs such as ‘this industry eats its young ‘shows Ben’s humour and wit hasn’t left him, ‘I’m satisfied, provided that my record sales outnumber my number of chins’ is without a doubt one of my favourite lines of the album.

It was great to hear that this album had a good blend of Ben’s staple acoustic sound along with full band collaborations too. ‘I promise you that it will be okay’ is a really stand out track, it starts with some brisk bursts of aggressive electric guitar, followed by some really lovely banjo rolls, who doesn’t love the banjo?

If I had any criticisms on this album it would be that I found it too short, it is 14 tracks long and it ends perfectly with the mournful acapella track Lake Wales, however I still found myself wanting more.