Yep, nailed it! Like a few other comments have said, definitely not his “normal” type of song. Would definitely recommend either “End of the Affair” or “Esmeralda” live at Casino de Paris. It’s a rare treat to get reactions to Ben, so thank you!

Great review. Really enjoyed this discovery.

You interpreted the thematic side of it pretty spot on! Definitely one of Ben Howard’s most experimental songs, but still one of my favorites. Great breakdown!

Murmurations and this entire album is for advanced fans. It doesn't have meaning without hearing his last album imo. His album prior to this is very, very dark, depressing and bleak and this song is basically a culmination of the last album and this one. Where IFWWW he's in a terrible emotional state, Murmurations tells the story that he's okay. Noonday Dream as an album is the calm down from the storm. I recommend going to the very very beginning to his first album and working your way up to see his incredible evolution as an artist. Black Flies, Promise and Follaton Wood first. Then End of the Affair, I Forget Where We Were, and Esmerelda, Oats and Burgh Island for his next album/ep then for Noonday, Nica Libres At Dusk, Towing the Line, Bird On A Wing. Collections, Follies Fixture, Far Out and Strange Last Flight of Richard Russell. Even Metaphysical Cantations. Those are the best tracks to really dive in to Ben. And trust me, you will. He's the best artist of the last few decades imo.

Invest the time, go back to the start, you will be rewarded more than you can possibly imagine. No other artist I’ve ever listened to can take you to as many places. I’m almost jealous of anyone getting in from the start. My only advice would be don’t shortcut anything because you don’t “get it” right away. Quite a few skip parts of Noonday Dream because it’s such a shift from IFWWW. Don’t. Stick with it. Think of it like the first times you listened to something like OK Computer. Blew your mind but didn’t really get it or like it? You will. (I hope) I personally like to view the first 3 albums as a trilogy… EK is youth and happiness but the occasional foretelling of growing up and potential darkness. In IFWWW, life is moving past fast. Love, loss, middle age, darkness, relationships, problems, with occasional lighter moments, but not many. ND is the End, Old age. Death. The whole world moving into the darkest hour…. Just my opinion of course!

Great analysis, I feel this song is about a realisation of how important our perspective is, and how we ultimately have a choice in how we look at things. I also agree that this song makes more sense after listening to all of Bens work that came before, I feel it’s a lot about going through darkness and coming out the other side to find life is ok.

I am glad this music held your int. I am a Ben Howard fan. Kind of awkward as I am older than him !

I don't know if this was the album to check from him first lol it's definitely the most experimental I'd say. Check out end of the affair, a bit more "normal" but still with hints of the interesting things you mentioned.

Ben Howard is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer.

This one kinda bounced off me. I do dig the chill, laid back vibe and the interesting sonic palette, but there never really was any moment that really engaged me. I could see this being nice background music to other chill-out activities like just hanging out with friends and enjoying the weather and some cannabis, but probably not something I'd put on for active listening. Excellent commentary though. Definitely enlightened me to some subtle features of it that I'd missed.

Nice work dude, love people discovering Ben, especially this underestimated diamond of a song. The best summary of it is, that no, you didn’t miss anything, there wasn’t any pitch, chord, or tempo change. Not even the lyrics actually. But that’s what he does, the songs just flow they feel like a river more than specific points you can specify. For your curiosity there are only two chord changes - a riff going between b a C power chords (creepy part) and then G D C (uplifting part which we can sort of call a chorus) the song just goes back and forth between the two with no consistency in lyrics sang or length. Ben is also a very aware songwriter. I always am stunned by his lyrics too. He reminds me of Justin Vernon’s writing, it’s something that you look at and it seems so random like it’s AI generated but you know that for him it makes perfect sense. I’d want to be in his head once to just understand what these memories are. It’s not something you can relate to easily because it’s so specific yet somehow you find the music very relatable. Oh and the sound you were interested about. Knowing Ben it’s just a guitar. He can do anything with a guitar and he plays with effects so I’d bet a pick or his hand slapping the strings somewhere on the fret with lots and lots of effects

This album is such a good vibe

Yes more Ben Howard! If he's good at anything it's definitely for creating a specific mood, his songs do that so well and drag you along with it, would love to see you break down more songs, I strongly recommend the Jools Holland live performance of End Of The Affair. Given that you're a composer I think that song would give you lots of content to breakdown. Nice video mate!

More Ben Howard!!

Love to see a Ben Howard reaction, but a bit sad it's from his more experimental stuff. It's not bad per se, but I just miss his delicious guitar playing on it.

Love this side of Ben. The song really captures a sense of social isolation.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the percussive instrument you mention is a guitar with a very high freq. delay

Haven't listened to Ben Howard in a while, some of his older works helped got me through some times. Small Things, Oats in the Water, Esmerelda. He has some especially fantastic live performances, BBC live lounge (including unique covers of others' songs), and especially his performances on Jools Holland, everyone should watch this on their own time kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ipqpm5V_v5bPeqs.html

Shameless plug but if you want a taste what he's capable of in 10 mins just check my most recently uploaded vid. 😌