ben myers - daylight moon

Ben Myers

Daylight Moon
self-released; 2013

3.5 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Ben Myers has written a lot of music. From 2006 to 2009 he wrote seven albums and also released three additional studio albums. His most recent is Daylight Moon, which is an eleven-song album that has melodic acoustic ballads that you could compare to Elliot Smith as well as light rock that has a 90’s vibe. 

Daylight Moon is a complete DIY effort. Myers wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered everything on the album. Daylight Moon sounds better than the majority of albums done this way although some songs could have benefited from being recorded at a professional studio. The songs that contained drums could have used a bit of tweaking in regards to the mix but the sparse acoustic songs sounded great.

The album opens up with “Love’s Alive,” which is a melodic pop song that sounded like a combination of Elliot Smith and Fountains Of Wayne. Myers doesn't actually sound like Elliott Smith (in most cases) but there is something about the melodies he writes that makes you think of him. The song is pretty catchy especially the chorus which is bound to get stuck in your head whether you like it or not.

“We'll Never Know” is a sparse acoustic song that revolves around Myers’ vocal melody. He breaks out the xylophone and piano, which gave the song a sweet, tender quality that was quite enjoyable. You don’t hear many people fading into their songs these days but Myers does it on “On The Way.” The song is another melodic pop song that is on par with the opener. 

Myers put down the guitar in favor of piano on “I Look Away” while  “I Don't Need To Know” is a soft acoustic ballad, which has a chorus that revolves around guitar, vocal harmonies, a shaker and piano. “Fire To The Flame” was the most rocking song on the album but it lacked a beefy kick drum.

The album concludes with  “Loves Mystique,” which contains a soft almost ethereal presence. Myers plays piano while what sounds like synthetic strings provides the atmosphere. Aside from a couple of minor production issues Daylight Moon is a very enjoyable album. Fans of Elliott Smith, Neil Young and Elvis Costello should enjoy his music. 

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