Last year, Ben Harper teamed up with Dhani Harrison and Joseph Arthur in the supergroup A Fistful of Mercy, a beautiful folky affair. He retreats into solo mode on possibly his best album yet, Give Till It’s Gone.
“Don’t Give Up On Me Now” is Country/Rock and is rather mournful. “I Will Not Be Broken” is an affecting ballad featuring tortured vocals, while the Bluesy shuffle of “Feel Love” finds Harper singing in falsetto. “Pray That Our Love Sees The Dawn” is an ominous Alt-Country ballad. “Rock N’ Roll Is Free” is a jagged Blues Rocker. Others in that vein are the racuous “Cleverly Severely” (with buzzing/screeching guitars and drum kit-demolishing percussion), the Beatles-esque “Spilling Faith” which fittingly features Ringo Starr on drums and segues seamlessly into the instrumental “Get There From Here” (for a delightful ten minute jam session), and the fuzzy dischordant “Dirty Little Lover”.
“Waiting On A Sign” is a groovy soulful number with Harper singing “A mother’s only happy as her saddest child”. Closing is the Disco-tinged rocker “Do It For You, Do It For Us” with Harper growling and yelping against nice smooth and rough musical contrasts.
What can I say? This is an album that gives and gives. Ben Harper and his band having a fabulous time. Superb!
