Ben Folds - Way To Normal

is the third solo album from Folds, in the eight years since he broke the Ben Folds Five up. So, he’s by no means the most prolific solo artist, but perhaps this goes to explain why fans were so eager to get hold of this record, that bootlegs surfaced, which were by all accounts recorded obviously to mislead and after listening to this record it might well be assumed by the newcomer that one of Mr Folds hobbies is to deliberately mislead his audience.

Opener ‘Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hits His Head)’ is full of crowd cheers and handclaps, as if recorded live; leading the listener into thinking that he or she has accidentally inserted the wrong CD in the player. Observation of the lyrics however reveals the tale of an unfortunate stage diver. Trickery is abound on the rest of the album, allowing the listener to think that with its bouncy pianos and catchy choruses it would be a wise choice for a soundtrack to a kids TV programme such as Sesame Street, (see ‘The Frown Song’ for the best example of this). However, it is then that the gradual inclusion of expletives becomes apparent, increasing throughout the progression of the record. The more upbeat the songs the worse the language, it seems. This culminates in album highlight ‘Bitch Went Nuts’.

However, it’s not all surprises, for example seeing the name Regina Spektor lets us know that lead single ‘You Don’t Know’ has little chance of being a dud, it doesn’t disappoint and is thoroughly brilliant. This song is followed by ‘Before Cologne’ a brief instrumental, which opens for ‘Cologne’, the conclusion for the first half of the record. And as befits the ending to an upbeat (in music if not in lyrics) first half, is a sombre sounding swirl. It works well and as good as any of the previous numbers.

The slow tracks don’t always work though; closing pair ‘Effington’ and ‘Kylie From Connecticut’ are forgettable to the extent that their presence can be forgotten whilst listening. This isn’t the ideal way to end the record and it’s not the only weak spot either. There’s a buzzing sound on the bass, which occurs from time to time, and whilst this works when it first appears, it becomes a somewhat tiresome toy by the time it’s put back into its box.

Overall though, there’s some brilliant stuff on offer. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons style harmonies sound brilliant when they surface, and the opening synthy keyboards to ‘Free Coffee’ work really well with the half spoken, half sung lyrics about the rich being given for free what the poor often struggle to afford. However, this is always grounded in Folds’ brilliant work on the piano and sense of humour preventing any of ‘Way To Normal’ from veering into pretentious territory.