Album Review: Ben Lee - Ripe
I’ve been told Ben Lee is currently the “hottest” thing in Australia. He has Mandy Moore singing on his albums and won several ARIA Music Awards (which is Australia’s equivalent to the Grammy’s) in 2006. But beside all that, Ben Lee is a pretty damn talented musican. Probably most known in the states for his collaboration with Ben Folds and Ben Kweller for “The Bens”, his solo career looks it’s about to skyrocket all around the world.
In Lee’s Ripe, his sixth solo studio album, he creates pop music the way it should be. I want to describe it as if Justin Timberlake and Ben Folds had a musical child, it would sound like Ben Lee (+ an Australian accent).
The album is simple. Nothing the world hasn’t heard before, but something the world can certainly enjoy. He sings a beautiful duet with Mandy Moore in “Birds and Bees”. Most of the album’s song have lyrics that can easily be identified with, such as “Sex without Love”. The album’s highlight is likely the song “Numb” a Folds sounding pop song that you can’t not bop your head too.
Yet, the album is nothing earth changing. Several of the songs sound the same and there are several songs I could do without (ie. “American Television” and “Say Yes”). Nevertheless, it’s still an above average listen and likely something that will always bring a smile to your face when listening.
Rating: 
Dec 2nd, 2007 at 10:12 pm
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