Benjamin Wesley Releases New Song & Prepares to Drop New Album (Hallelujah!)

Alright, so I know there’s a been a ton of upcoming-release info floating to the surface lately, and I swear-swear-swear I’m going to mention it at some point very soon (no, really), but I just got handed some news on that front that I feel utterly, completely compelled to talk about right damn now…

See, it turns out that since the release of his mind-blowingly cool/trippy/mesmerizing EP, Geschichte, way, way back in 2008, local one-man-band {Benjamin Wesley} hasn’t been just sitting on his laurels in perpetuity, like I’d feared he might.

No, instead, he’s been hard at work on a brand-new followup to the now-classic EP, a real-live full-length called Think / Thoughts. He’s apparently all done recording it (up at Sugar Hill, naturally) and will be throwing it out to the world in digital form on February 27th.

Holy hell yes, people. I cannot say enough about this guy — every time I’ve seen him live, he’s been completely spellbinding, seriously; I just can’t look away. He’ll play multiple instruments, all at the same time, looking like some kind of crazed novelty act (but sounding amazing), or he’ll just loop and layer one delicate, fuzzy-round-the-edges guitar line after another on top of one another, and either way is awesome. The music’s warm and strange and psychedelic and bouncy, like MBV-ish dreampop with an infusion of funky soul and husky, cigarette-scratched vocals.

In advance of the actual release of Think / Thoughts, btw, he’s got a track from the album up on his Bandcamp site, “Catch My Shadow.” It’s definitely kin to the stuff on Geschichte, sure, but at the same time more synth-y and almost gospel-tinged. And very, very cool; listen below & then snag an MP3 for a measly $0.99:

Looking a little further down the road, Wesley’s got two actual shows coming up, as well — he’ll be at Cactus on March 31st, and then his official CD release show is on April 6th up at Fitzgerald’s. Get ready for it, y’all.