When one chapter ends, another always begins. Radical Face spent eight years working on his critically acclaimed three-album conceptual saga, The Family Tree: The Roots (2011), The Branches (2013), and The Leaves (2016). Throughout that time, the Florida-born multi-instrumentalist Ben Cooper teetered on something of an existential seesaw: rising to success one moment, and plummeting into personal discord the next. All of this birthed from of a vision birthed in a shed behind his family’s house, and out of the ashes of two finished novels that he lost on a crashed hard drive. But now, with all that chaos behind him, the time has arrived for Cooper to take the next step.
Cooper is the genuine article: a poet with a pleasing voice and a homebody who has found success through compelling songwriting. On Radical Face’s new single, “The River with No Name,” Cooper hits us with outstanding wordplay and cadence while delivering poignant lyrics to a finely orchestrated instrumental production. Radical Farce combines the sincerity of Damien Jurado and the indie bravado of Okervil River. Check out “The River With No Name”….
Cooper describes his inspiration for the song…
It’s a song about moving.
We will be moving again next year, and this will be the ninth time for me. Moving used to feel overwhelming. It was something I dreaded. So when we moved to where we are living now, and I set up a studio in the garage, I was convinced I was going to stay in place for a while. But a pandemic wasn’t a part of the plan. Like any major life event, it shifted priorities and outlook a huge amount. So we are back to the drawing board.
But I noticed it wasn’t bothering me this time. I’ve gotten good at it. And I can have fun doing all the research for potential places to live and mentally trying them on. Since this is something I’ve been doing in my spare time, and I have been using these newsletter songs as an excuse to make “slice of life” moments into music, it felt like as good a topic as any.
Musically, the major influences were some old Bossa Nova compilations, French pop music from the 60s, and the theme from “The Reading Rainbow.” Odd combination, but these have been in rotation for me while drawing lately. I’ve been enjoying letting things influence me with no intention of being clever or particularly mindful about it. There’s something fun about being very unfiltered and spontaneous. I think these are the only songs I’ve ever made where I have had no rewrites involved. It’s been a great counterpoint to working on such an elaborate record.
