Sound Of The Life Of The Mind, The

Ben Folds Five plays light, piano-based, alternative rock. Here’s their first new studio album in 13 years. (Their big radio hit “Brick” was 14 years ago!) Ironically the Five is a trio; all are fine musicians. Ben himself is on piano; bass & drums accompany. Ben’s singing is high & quite good.

FCC issues on tracks 1 and 6

1 FCC (“WTF”) Mid-tempo. Like a pop showtune. Queen-like lead & choral vocal. (5:16)
2 Mid-tempo. Beach Boys falsetto vocal. Wall-of-sound bass & drums. (4:33)
3 * Mid-slow. Lovely pop ballad. Good piano, nice lead & backing vocals. Dreamy. (4:43)
4 ** Fast. The mind of Sarah, a brainy teenage girl. Powerful playing. (4:13)
5 Mid-slow. Very pop. A guy is obsessed with Frank Sinatra. Sappy strings. (4:34)
6 FCC (“dicks”) Mid-fast. Silly glee-club sound. (4:15)
7 Very fast. Showy piano with retro honky-tonk sound. (4:23)
8 * Mid-fast. Good singing. Odd, intriguing story. Ben plays piano and organ. (4:15)
9 ** Mid-tempo. Sad, touching remembrance of his father. Very good singing. String section here (unlike in #5) is beautiful and adds perfectly to the song. (3:32)
10 Slow. Mopey, broken heart song. Maybe meant to be ironic; comes across dreary. (4:51)