There’s only one Ben Glover, and that voice is always unmistakable from the first bar to the last. We’re all missing our favourite artists in 2020, so it’s a delight to have a new EP to prick up our ears.
While for some, everyday of 2020 felt like Friday 13th, in this upside-down world, Friday 13th of November is worth noting for the release of ‘Sweet Wild Lily’ on Proper Records.
Now available to download, the EP kicks off with the stunning and memorable title track. Next up is the reflective ‘Arguing With Ghosts’ – featuring the vocals of long time Glover collaborator Kim Richey. With its rather sad, nostalgic, poignant subject matter of missed opportunity and the passing of time, ‘Arguing with Ghosts’ has the sound of a Glover classic, as does ‘Broke Down’. In fact, these are four Glover classics in a row – a perfect package to round off 2020.
The ‘Sweet Wild Lily’ EP came as some surprise.
I hadn’t planned to release anything in 2020. Yet in the early summer, I got on a writing streak and revisited some older unrecorded songs.
As any artist knows, you don’t get to pick when the creativity strikes, rather the muse seeks you when least expected. Spending time in the studio rather than out touring enabled Ben to bond again with his creativity.
Glover took up the reigns for production on ‘Sweet Wild Lily’ but as is his way, he works at his best with a little help from his friends. He knows and understands how artistry is enriched by teamwork so here we have the guitar playing of Colm McClean, the vocals of Kim Richey, and the sound engineering of Dylan Alldredge.
‘Sweet Wild Lily’ and ‘Fireflies Dancing’ are solo compositions, with ‘Broke Down’ and ‘Arguing With Ghosts’ co-written some time ago with Gretchen Peters, who has taken her rightful place in the Songwriter’s Halls of Fame.
The first single from the EP, ‘Arguing with Ghosts’ powerfully explores the human connection, grief, our links to the places we’re rooted. This is a regular theme for Glover who ebbs and flows between his home town of Glenarm in Northern Ireland and his adopted home of Nashville, Tennessee. He’s put down roots in America so it’s no surprise either that ‘Fireflies Dancing’ evokes the mysteries of the Mississippi.
It’s impossible to pick a favourite from these four but I think it’s ‘Broke Down’ for me. No wait, maybe it’s ‘Arguing with Ghosts’. Never mind, it’s ‘Sweet Wild Lily’, but then ‘Fireflies Dancing’ has a magic all of its own.
Please don’t ask me to pick a favourite. It’s impossible. They all have their own special magic.