The further Ben Howard goes along in his career, and he is only a couple of EPs and one full-length album deep, the better he gets. Like a good wine he is aging well. Nothing is really changed up on his second album, I Forget Where We Were, he just is doing his pensive folk stuff even better. Confidence oozes through his fingers into his guitar and into his voice. Not a moment of hesitation to be heard. So much confidence that he bears his sole to us singing about loneliness, heartache and disappointment. Dark yet delicious. Leaves you wanting more. Do not mistake the gentleness of the music for a soft album as it is dark and cutting. The arrangements are for the most part stripped down to the bare minimum lending to the whole dark feel to it. No song on the album illustrates the spare beauty of his music more than “End of the Affair”. The song builds until the climax where Howard screams the line “what the hell, love” again and again.
Ben Howard – I Forget Where We Were
