A rough diamond – Album review: Ben Howard – I Forget Where We Were

By Eden van der Moere

The second album is the trickiest record in every musician’s repertoire. It can either make or break the artist. In Ben Howard’s case, it neither makes nor breaks his career. I Forget Where We Were, which was released only last October, is a rough diamond—both beautiful and haunting. Back in 2011, Ben Howard became a musical phenomenon after the release of his first album, Every Kingdom. A glorious debut, for which Ben Howard was nominated for the Mercury Prize. With singles such as “ A glorious debut, for which Ben Howard was nominated for the Mercury Prize. With singles such as “Keep Your Head Up” and “The Wolves”, the English singer-songwriter traveled across the globe and performed at every mayor music festival, from Glastonbury in the United Kingdom to SXSW in the United States.

Ben Howard’s debut album, Every Kingdom, was fresh as spring, lively as summer and magical as leaves falling down in autumn. On his second record, winter has arrived. I Forget Where We Were is darker, deeper and more complex. The opening song, “Small Things”, starts with haunting guitar chords, echoing through Ben Howard’s strong yet mysterious voice. It sets the tone for the entire album; this is a record about loneliness, brought with the strength of a long and ruthless winter. The long guitar hauls and the echoing rhythms form the core of most songs on I Forget Where We Were, such as “Rivers In Your Mouth” and “She Treats Me Well”. These songs are similar to those on his first album; they still have the dreaminess, the visual of waves crashing into the sand and the rain falling onto the trees in the forest.

But the rest of I Forget Where We Were is darker. It is a darkness that Every Kingdom only showed in glimpses, shadows that lurked behind the sun-lit compositions. But on Ben Howard’s second album, this darkness has clouded the bright sun. “In Dreams” is one the shimmering jewels of the album, mysterious, rhythmic and haunting. It is the soundtrack of ghost stories told around a campfire, words howling in the wind.

Two singles have been released so far, one an expectable choice and the other the boldest choice possible. “I Forget Where We Were”, the title track of the album, is the most uplifting track on the record. The melody is dramatic and remarkably easy to sing along with. It is a typical, yet qualitatively good, break-up song. Ben Howard sings about how he lost love, but portrays a beautiful silver lining. The other single, “End Of The Affair”, is, in fact, also a break-up song, as the title suggests. It echoes with loneliness, with heart-ache, but also with the anger that comes with the end of a relationship. This song does not apologize, it is heart-wrenchingly honest. Because of this, the melody and the rhythm of the song are not that radio-friendly, which makes it a bold choice for a single. “End Of The Affair” might not become Ben Howard’s most famous or beloved song, but it is certainly one of his most truthful and emotional song.

I Forget Where We Were will not bring Ben Howard the fame his first album had brought him, because it is too experimental and too personal. It is not a record that you play softly in the background or one that you listen to while traveling; it is an album that you listen to when you are hurting and when you need someone to translate your feelings into sounds. I Forget Where We Were is a diamond, because it shows Ben Howard’s capabilities as a singer-songwriter, but it is a rough one at that.

Eden van der Moere, class of 2017, is an Arts & Humanities major from Goes, The Netherlands.