Album review: Alec Benjamin - These Two Windows

It's album review time and this week I am doing the incredible debut album by American singer songwriter Alec Benjamin called These Two Windows released at the end of May this year. The album title is clever as it references the content of the songs on the album which give us a look into his heart and mind. This wasn't a hugely successful debut unfortunately, peaking at number 52 in the UK and number 75 in the US however I have a strong feeling we will continue hearing more of him.

I have enjoyed Alec's music for a few years now but I would say the first single from this album is what grabbed me and made me really become a fan, every song since has just added to that so hearing the full album is wonderful. I love that Alec's voice is soft and he sings calmly, never needing a blaring chorus to build the song as he manages to bring across the message of every song amazingly well in his own way while creating catchy songs that stick with you, his style definitely makes him different to most artists in our collection and obviously to all the other albums I have reviewed. Another thing I love is that his lyrics are clever and convey strong messages brilliantly, showing how skilled he is at songwriting and then he sings with such passion that you can feel every word.

My favourite song on the album is Match In The Rain, this is about a relationship falling apart and the futility of attempting to repair it using the brilliant metaphor that is the title. This song is truly perfect in so many ways, firstly the lyrics make this one of the more clever songs lyrically on the album with the many metaphors and comparisons between the end of the relationship and an oncoming storm. The song is also really melodic flowing incredible fluidly with Alec's voice effortlessly matching the energy of the song and providing one of the bigger choruses on the album, not as big as Oh My God though. Alec's voice here is so flawless and also shows off the full range of his vocal ability making for a hugely emotive performance.

Honourable mentions for this album  go to Must Have Been The Wind and Just Like You. Firstly Must Have Been The Wind which is the one that turned me into a fan, what I love about this is it is more of a story about offering support to a neighbour who has had a fight with their partner but isn't willing to admit it. I love the way he sings the song expressing concern for the woman involved while keeping his voice calm and level throughout showing the control he has in his mid to high range. Next we have Just Like You which is about Alec's relationship with his father and how he now realises that he wants to be like him as a father when he has children. This is a hugely emotional song where Alec expresses regret and the way he treated his father, realisation of what his father did for him, respect, love and admiration for his father, every single emotion is shown in his voice making you feel how he does. He also how's of a lower range here as well which adds a deeper level of emotion to the regretful part of the song. This song especially strikes a chord with me as I am a father myself to a wonderful boy and I feel so grateful for having an incredible father growing up and I now also have an incredible step-father as well, giving myself my brother and mt wife two brilliant men to turn to in times of need.

Finishing off then it is time for  the ratings for all the songs on the album;

1. Mind Is A Prison - 8.5/10

2. Demons - 8.5/10

3. Oh My God - 8/10

4. The Book Of You & I - 9/10

5. Match In The Rain - 10/10

6. Jesus In L.A. - 9/10

7. I'm Not A Cynic - 8/10

8. Alamo - 8.5/10

9. Must Have Been The Wind - 9.5/10

10. Just Like You - 9/10