Arts & Culture

By Dan Buckingham

Having put his musical career on hold a few years back to treat illness, Reading’s favourite son Ben Marwood is back with album number 3, & on listening it soon becomes apparent that he still knows his way around a tune…or thirteen.

Opening with some baby babble over soft strums of his guitar, Get Found kicks off with the short acoustic punch of, err, ‘Punched In The Mouth (Part 1),’ before giving way to ‘The Church Of No Commandments’ which is destined to become a live staple & fan favourite. It’s fast, fun and if anyone had any doubts that some time off would affect his ability to write a sing-a-long, then you needn’t have worried, by the time the drums kick in with the ‘holy holy hopeless’ refrain, it’s clear that it won’t be long before this will be sung back at volume during shows. The album is packed with classic Marwood (Bury Me In The Pantheon, the aforementioned Punched In The Mouth) but this isn’t to say no new ground has been tread. In fact, quite the opposite; album highlight ‘Nights’, among others, features a more full band sound than we’ve come to expect from Ben. This only helps the 40 or so minute Get Found, hit its maximum potential and the full band is only applied for the benefit of the song. Covering ’Baby, You’re A Mess’ by Band of Hope also really stands out, although some may find it odd to not put an original out as first single. Marwood makes the song his own and the listener is only rewarded by its inclusion on the record. With ‘Get Found’ Ben Marwood has produced his best album so far, a perfect addition to his already stellar back catalogue, and there’s enough in here to please both older fans & any newer ones he may have picked up in his absence. Welcome back Ben, we’ve missed you. Ben Marwood will be heading out on tour with Non Canon and Helen Chambers (select dates) in April, with the closest date to Ocelotshire being The Crofter’s Rights in Bristol on April 10.