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What Matters Most

by Ben Folds

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energydiluted
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energydiluted Ben's back at peak form, easily his best album since "Songs for Silverman" Favorite track: Kristine From The 7th Grade.
Carsten Pieper
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Carsten Pieper Just finished the first spin of Ben Folds' long awaited new album. A fine collection of artfully written and arranged songs it is! As always with him, lighter and funny things go hand in hand with graver topics. Fans of old might miss the more raucous songs - no angry dwarves in sight, but no complaints from my side. An artist has to go where the muse is leading and fans are free not to follow. For the old songs, we can also go back to the old records, right?

Masterful and mature album! Favorite track: Kristine From The 7th Grade.
bergitis
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bergitis It's been a long time since the last new Ben Folds album, and I like this one better than Way to Normal or So There. The only exception is the single, "Exhausting Lover," which I always skip. "Winslow Gardens" is my favorite track. Favorite track: Winslow Gardens.
greetingsadm
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greetingsadm I like to imagine that the narrator of this song is Burt Bacharach. Favorite track: Exhausting Lover.
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    - 150g black vinyl
    - 12", 1-LP, gatefold

    Includes unlimited streaming of What Matters Most via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $30 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    - Digiwallet

    Includes unlimited streaming of What Matters Most via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

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about

“More than anything, I wanted to make an album that was generous, that was useful,” says Ben Folds. “I want you to finish this record with something you didn’t have when you started.”

Indeed, Folds’ masterful new collection, What Matters Most, isn’t so much a statement as it is an offering, an open hand reaching out to all those wounded and bewildered by a world that seems to make less and less sense every day. Recorded in East Nashville with co-producer Joe Pisapia, the album marks Folds’ first new studio release in eight years, and it’s a bold, timely, cinematic work, one that examines the tragic and the absurd in equal measure as it reckons with hope and despair, gratitude and loss, identity and perspective. The songs are bittersweet here, hilarious at times, but often laced with a quiet sense of longing and dread: a text message goes unanswered; an old classmate descends into the dark depths of internet conspiracies; a relationship unravels in the middle of a lake. And yet, taken as a whole, the result is an undeniably joyful record that refuses to succumb to the weight of the world around it, an ecstatic reminder of all the beauty and promise hiding in plain sight for anyone willing (and present enough) to recognize their moments as they arrive.

credits

released June 2, 2023

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All songs written by Ben Folds
Free From The Man Publishing (BMI)
except
“Moments” written by Ben Folds, Tim Harrington, and Paul Wright
Free From The Man Publishing (BMI) / At the Harm Farm Music (ASCAP)



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Ben Folds: singing, piano-ing, bass-ing, some drumming
Tim Harrington: acoustic guitars, singing
Paul Wright: cello, singing
Paul Dumas: drums
Joe Pisapia: electric guitars, pedal steel, background vocals
Ross Garren: keyboards, harmonica

Horn Section on “But Wait, There’s More”, “Exhausting Lover”, and “What Matters Most”:
Jim Hoke: saxophone
Emmanuel Echem: trumpet
John Hinchey: trombone

Dodie Clark: choir of Dodies on “Clouds With Ellipses”
Rob Moose: string arrangements and all violins/violas on “Fragile” and “Winslow Gardens”
Gabe Cabezas: cellos on “Winslow Gardens”

String Quartet on “Kristine From The 7th Grade” (arrangement - Mr Folds)
David Davidson: violin
David Angel: violin
Kristin Wilkenson: viola
Carole Rabinowitz: cello

Ruby Amanfu: harmony on “Back To Anonymous”


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Produced by Joe Pisapia, recorded at Middletree Studios, East Nashville, TN
Mixed by Michael Brauer at MHB Productions
Joe Costa: recording engineer
Josh Cournoyer: assistant engineer, some background vocals, and so much more
Mastered by Pete Lyman at Infrasonic, Nashville, TN



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Management: Mike Kopp
Business Management: Victor Wlodinguer
Legal: Ken Anderson
Booking: Jonathan Levine and Seth Malasky at Wasserman Music
Live crew: Ray Amico, Leo Overtoom, Michael Praytor
Package Design: Sam Smith
Cover Art by Sensetus, @Sensetus



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