Source
r/benhoward•
Corncore

Your favourite moments on the new record!

❔ Question

So as we all have had some time to digest the new record - what are your favourite moments on it so far?

I'll start with some of mine:

  1. Hearing the synth brass (?) the second time just before heading into the last chorus on Walking Backwards. That last chorus is just plain magic. My favourite on the record.
  2. Richmond Avenue when he says "pa" and you realise it's a fond memory of his dad when he's probably just a child. Very sweet song.
  3. On Interim of Sense when he sings "I could not stay, Living this way" the first time. It feels so definite and uplifting! I think you can really feel how he is re-evaluating his life after the TIAs in this song.
  4. The first seconds into Days of Lantana when the sample comes and the song drops into the guitar riff. Absolute goosebumps the first time I heard it on the studio version.

Posted Jun 27, 2023, 8:39 PM UTC

3531
justastone13•

“I’m trying” on Moonraker. The pause gets me every time.

31
nickpegg•

Came here to write this

6
Jwwlia•

😊 I live next to Guadarrama

3
justthebones•

I really like the way that the first part of Little Plant slurs down in pitch, then morphs into the second half, coming in on the 4th beat with those string parts. It's beautifully disorientating, as is much of the album.

23
Slicksooted•

But you wanted to be more and that's ordinary!

20
Ajturtle45•

Put your hand in the machine, can you hold it steady?

6
PrinceAzTheAbridged•

They were watching sunsets, you were straining for a vision!

6
Julie_Pap•

Muddy’s the water in the ground / Muddy’s the water anyhooow!

2
s0meth1ngGo0d•

The whole thing. I listen to his albums in order up to the new one when they come out. The journey is always different. He has inspired me to play and make my own songs. After 14 years I'm finally making my 1st album.

There is something beautifully haunting in how his sound has changed. I wasn't surprised with this album after hearing collections from the whiteout. It's a lovely and almost perfect sound to be immersed in

19
Sufficiently_•

The whole chorus of Life in the Time is it for me. Like, it is superb the way it kicks in. And the single note bend on the electric with delay halfway through has taken residence in my ears

15
slprysltry•

So there's a whole gang of us all about that one little bend. It is rent free in my head.

3
Sufficiently_•

Hahah glad to know yeah. I bet that’s Nat Watsons’!

2
SnooMacarons4171•

That note bend is soooo good

2
Zembob•

The way Spirit builds, and especially in headphones just getting to take in all the production elements coming together and flying around your ears.

To pick one moment, I enjoy the slightly sullen delivery in the glitched vocals section of "I walk-on-con-con-con-con my own", and then the just the pure joy that is the final couple choruses.

15
Beautiful-Oil-8316•

Exactly that! As the "Purple flowers..." start to repeat for that last time is when I start to melt and feel like I'm listening sunlight. With all the excitement it conjures, it's a highlight for sure, there's such a warmth and lightness to the track.

1
galvinthedude•

Days of Lantana is one of the most musically and lyrically beautiful songs I’ve heard in some time. Ben is a tremendous poet. Perhaps my favorite bit of that song and on the whole record are the verse lines where the deep vocals come in to harmonize with Ben. I love the lines, “But I don’t mind it; being in the darkness baby (with the deep harmony); to be by your side; I would walk the Nile twice”. Just superb.

14
perspectivefrompeeps•

It’s such a fantastically written line.

3
eliasdsdf•

From the live version, I'm guessing the deep harmony is Mickey through an octaver? Love that moment as well

1
PaqS18•

The chorus of little plant. Might be my favorite piece of all time. So simple yet so powerful. The composition, the lyrics, the vibe. Incredible.

12
ragnaross96•

These lyrics

'Well, Curly's a baker's boy Living for the harvest nights Turns to me and says something like "The world only turns twice Once for the laughter Once for the memories after All the rest is just kicking through the weather and the fines" So we go dancing Twist turns and all things fancy "I blame the baker boy", that's what I had on my mind'

10
slprysltry•

This is it for me, lyrically. Love how it's preced by 'some know the way and just walk a straight line.' I take it as Curly has decided he knows what it's all about, and Ben is the type to take in what he says and struggle with the sentiment. The song is a lyrically goldmine.

3
T92S•

‘Out side walkin, Birds at the window talkin’

My favourite verse on the album so far.

2
sandisalamandi•

The way he sings "Curly's a baker's boooiiiii" 😭 makes me melt

2
ALinnellGB•

Complete cliche but every time the second part of Little Plant kicks in gets me “But you wanted to be more and that’s ordinary”, I end up belting it out every, single time.

10
PrinceAzTheAbridged•

"Muddy's the water in the ground / Muddy's the water anyhow" has not left my head in days.

2
jonnyh420•

agree with your 1

the build in Richmond

the way Walking Backwards comes back at the end

the drums and horns in Moonraker

the call response of Spirit/Is it?

8
NielsV1995•

Mine was your “1” as well so I’ll just stick with that. This is a nice thread btw.

5
Crimsonzs_•

Interim of Sense last minute and a half. Some of Ben's best vocals on the entire album. It's so warm. Especially "In the ashes of the leaves, I was leaving. Well I could not stay living this way".

Spirit- 3:25-5:10 is some of the best work Ben's done. It's incredible.

Little Plant- The piano at 3:16 onwards in Little Plant followed by the few notes of acoustic to end it.

Richmond- The final "Back for tea you said" and you are treated to this ethereal sound and eargasm until the song's climax. The Ben Howard/Mickey harmony is just chef's kiss.

Lantana- It's hard to pick because this song has a perfect intro and outro. From the strings/sample at the beginning to start the song or the almost Nica Libres at Dusk outro at around the 4:44 mark. It's such a magnificent track start to finish

Moonraker- The entire tone from 3:05-3:40 is my favorite part of the song. Gorgeous touch.

5
Kind_over_Cavalier•

The build up through the glitchy verse of spirit

5
slprysltry•

Days of Lantana; the ending glitchy vocals, and the violin interlude that comes around a second time with a harmony. Reminds me of Orestes by A Perfect Circle.

The Chorus of Little Plant. It's so uplifying and melancholy at the same time. Man knows how to close an album.

5
Comfortable_Tip_1900•

SPIRITTTT, IS IT?

5
bittertiger•

There’s so much. First listen was in a tent with my girlfriend. Spots that immediately stuck out are still my favorite. The very beginning of Lantana like some other person said, the 2nd chorus of walking backward, the drum entrance on Moonraker and the little jammy parts. Man I could just keep going lol. But when I started playing it, my girlfriend was starting to fall asleep, and when the sample came in at the end of the song she woke right up and said “oh this is sick”.

3
oracularius•

Maybe in a month of Sundays…

3
Beautiful-Oil-8316•

tldr: Spirit into Little Plant got me high.

During Spirit, around 2:30, when the instrumental swelling get stripped back a bit, Ben says "Spirit...Is it?" then begins "Purple flowers..." for the last time, from there up to when it ends.God I start to melt and feel like I'm listening to sunlight.

With all the excitement it conjures, it's a highlight for sure, there's such a warmth and lightness to the track.

Edit: Not to mention after having such a hyper and ecstatic outro in 'Spirit', to arrive at 'Little Plant' to end the album - it feels like a smooth comedown from peaking, adding to the moment's joyous and exciting effect, and overall ride through the album.

3
keeog•

My favourite thing is that each time I listen, something new makes my heart skip and fall in love even more. Such a wonderful album

2