Review Summary: Is It? is a welcome return to form for Ben Howard.
While the beauty on, say, Every Kingdom is more immediate, Is It? requires both dedication and time to reveal itself. Instead of showing you the answers directly, Ben asks you to empathize with his vulnerabilities and lived experiences. This can be encapsulated through the murmuring that declares “I am making a world for you//In the interim of sense.”
It is without question that this man has been through a lot recently, suffering two transient ischemic attacks; this album isn’t just a cerebral answer to his suffering but a celebration of his creative capacity as a human being. We’re here on his journey, and he is with us. Even if that is us walking backwards at times.
There is a notable evolution that takes place on Ben’s fifth LP. A shift towards electronica was heard first on Collections from the Whiteout (with the use of the nifty Korg Volca Beats) and this transition towards full-blown folktronica is completed on Is It? with confidence and vigour. The electronic beeps and bleeps can be discordant initially, and may put some off, like fireflies flickering around your personal space. But when the flighting harmonies have been established, to my ear, the electronics fit in as they are supposed to, the best example is on Life In My Time. Perfectly imperfect for the occasion, they add a colour just not possible on more straightforward folk records. Because this isn’t Ben trying to create in line with tradition, this is Ben quietly pushing the realms of possibility, and accepting the results as they are.
My favourite tracks are the soothing Days of Lantana and the rich Moonraker. Among the machinated drumbeats, the bassline in Days of Lantana grounds you, there isn’t any place you’d rather be. When things in life are moving at pace, Moonraker is a balm that softens the pace of reality. I ease into Ben’s reassuring voice and sigh in relief that we can take this time slowly.
There’s a reason this review comes late. Listening to "Is It?" is like tending to a garden in early spring. At first, you see the buds tightly closed, and they remain that way stubbornly, but as you immerse yourself, each track eventually unfolds under the “faint June shine” like a delicate flower, revealing soft fragrances that were hidden within. So, I’ve been busy gardening and smelling fragrances of these little plants, just doing my thing, with Ben at hand.
