[rating=7.00]
A Benji Hughes album is like a seed in transit. If it winds up in the right environment, it will eventually bloom. But it could just as easily land on concrete. In the case of Songs in the Key of Animals, the success of the album depends largely on whose ears in which it lands. People who already know and love Hughes, or at least his Nilsson-esque style, are the fertile soil for which the metaphorical seed is hoping. The concrete is pretty much everyone else.
His last proper full-length release, 2008’s A Love Extreme, found critical acclaim and cult status due to its finely constructed (if often absurdist) songs and buzzed, intermittently groovy instrumental work. Self-referential lyrics, deadpan humor, and a satirical frame of mind made the album worth investigating over time while Hughes was off writing commercial jingles. Chances are you’ve heard several of Hughes’ works over the years, and Songs in the Key of Animals retains his undeniable knack for catchy, bite size musical moments.
These bites may not amuse everyone’s bouche, but it’s still a joy to hear smart, pure music that is, ironically, seemingly unaffected by commercial motivation. If Hughes were aiming for viral or chart success, chances are this album wouldn’t sound quite as much like it does. It often works as utter nonsense in the name of fun. “Peacockin’ Party”, “Shark Attack”, and “Girls Love Shoes” set the tone early with ridiculous subject matter juxtaposed against otherwise impressive and diverse musical backdrops. “Girls Love Shoes” may be the ouroboros of Benji Hughes-ism, so satirical and drenched in spontaneity that it eats its own tail.
“Zebra” is more straightforward, if still outrageously odd. Hushed choruses of saxophone rise between curtains of synthesized sounds, astride an insistent drum figure. This moment highlights Hughes’ intriguing ability to turn the simplest ideas into wholly unique instances of sound. “Fall Me In Love” is a joyously fractured song of longing, and “Freaky Feedback Blues” sounds like the backing track to a long, weird night at an opium den where Steely Dan is the house band. These atmospheres are achieved so effortlessly and confidently, one has to marvel at Hughes’ natural talent.
The second half of the album finds Hughes in a more aching space. The piano becomes more prevalent, and the songs slightly less absurd. “Picnic” finds him confusing his female companion, who responds in kind with “I don’t get it/What do you want me to say?” He then comes clean, asking her to tell him she’s in love with him. She obliges, possibly inspired by one of the few statements of clarity on this album. After the unrepentantly boring filler track “Song for Nancy”, the album ends in languid, melancholy fashion with “Take You Home”. Schizophrenic, sarcastic, and full of both dark and brightly lit moments, Songs in the Key of Animals is another curious and enjoyable part of what may or may not be Benji Hughes’ musical vision.