Fresh Track: Ben Cosgrove “The Machine in the Garden”

There is something completely transportive that is done to my mind and soul when I listen to Ben Cosgrove‘s compositions. There is a lifting feeling, a feeling of being pulled away from the drudgery of the day and forced into a different frame of mind. Immersive. Enlightening. Enchanting. 

That is not to say that all of Ben’s songs are bright yellow, blinding sunshine rays of jubilance. There are, of course, some of those in his arsenal, but it’s the lilt and the drone, the pushing and pulling of opposing forces, the flow and blue-gray tapestry of his heavier arrangements that I find myself drawn deeply into. All that considered, it’s the very fact that the brush he paints his sonic landscapes with is dripping with such an abundance of color truly displays the multifaceted nature of his artistry.

Cue a brand new track from Cosgrove released this morning off of his forthcoming “The Trouble With Wilderness“. There’s introspection, there’s a yearning, a seeking and a specific curiosity to this first track off of the new record (out on April 16th). Which should come as no surprise. Ben is a curator and collector of imagery, place and experience that he distills down into his pieces. He mentions that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic he, “went on these daylong rambles all over the outskirts of town pretty much every day for months”, picking up visual cues and melodical language to describe those experiences from the tips of his fingers to our ears. “Machine” is cavernous, but subtly soft. Drawing you deeper and deeper into its recesses and layers to explore more. Undulating between harmonics and an embedded soulful breakdown.  This time was not wasted on Cosgrove’s penchant for pulling a specific place and time into a musical rebirth of that idea or vision.

He continues, “I was amazed to find what strange, beautiful and interesting things I would notice as I passed all the same ordinary-seeming places again and again and looked at them more and more closely.”

Check it out below and hit the Bandcamp page to pre-order the full album.