Ben Bedford takes his songwriting on a fantasy-fuelled journey of mystique through a new record that discards the shackles of convention. VALLEY OF STARS can attract various musical and literary tags including story-arc, parable and concept, which all indicate how the power of prose underpins his approach to music making.
Across a landscape that interweaves six lyrical pieces with five extended instrumentals a story unfolds in the vein of Watership Down frequented by as many animal characters as the works of Beatrix Potter. Alongside the staging of independent vignettes threading together to complete the circle, you are in the comforting charm of a folk musician adept at curating a soundscape of intrinsic guitar playing. A range of tempos assist the process of following the journey, and while this may not be your usual off the peg folk album, there is an alluring hold on those rewarding the artist's risk by lending a willing and active ear.
Bedford creates a protagonist in the guise of a hare depicted on the front cover, who then embarks on an entertaining adventure confronting a weird and wonderful array of animal characters that befriend, threaten, evoke dreams and eventually deliver solace. Elements of this work are uplifting and reassuring with Bedford hugely creative and acutely innovative in toying with and feeding the listener's imagination through expressive lyrics and sensitive musicianship. The whole piece comes across as cinematic and ripe for animation. Creature comforts and discomforts rub shoulders in this gentle rollercoaster of an adventure.
Ben Bedford has explored different sides of his artisanal make-up to conjure up VALLEY OF STARS. The result is a mythical amalgam of tunes, songs and re-defined prose to bridge the gap between performance and written art.
