Ben Lee

Twenty-five-year-old Ben Lee has been a recording artist for over a decade now, so expectations are understandably high every time he releases new material. I’ve had the same reaction to every album: "There are some great songs on here!" And I’m happy to report that this is true yet again on his latest, Awake is the New Sleep. But even at the wise old age of 25, he still suffers the pitfalls of fellow young self-indulgers, Ryan Adams and Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes). All three are talented singer/songwriters in need of a good editor.

For every ear-catching, wonderful piece of pop he effortlessly throws our way, Lee makes us sift through several brooding, whispering ballads. This wouldn’t be such a problem except that he never allows his album to really pick up momentum. His ballads aren’t especially good or bad, but for the most part they feel like classic album filler. Lee’s catchy upbeat pop/rock is so finely crafted and executed, I’d rather hear 10 songs/30 minutes of it, rather than 14 tracks of alternating tempos.

Having said all of that, I still need to point out that this album is definitely worth your time. The first single, "Catch My Disease," is worth the price of admission. I’d be shocked if it doesn’t receive a little airplay and a snippet in an episode of The O.C. Besides the first single, there are a few other standout anthemic pop songs ("Into the Dark," "Close I’ve Come," "All in This Together") in the vein of Jonathan Richman meets Paul Westerberg.

Awake is the New Sleep is a much better album than the sophomoric title would suggest. Although it does suffer from a few buzz-killing ballads, overall the album is propped up by several very strong single candidates. - Doug Kamin

Like most musicians who make a splash in their teens, Ben Lee has had a hard time finding his footing in his twenties. First, his American record label, Grand Royal, closed after the release of his 1999 album Breathing Tornados, and then, during the first half of the 2000s, shifting pop trends -- plus a general unspoken consensus that he was no longer a pop wunderkind now that he was in his twenties -- pushed him out of the limelight. He managed to get an album out in his native Australia in 2002, a move that didn't get nearly as much attention in the U.S. as his 2003 breakup with celebrity girlfriend Claire Daines. So, approaching the halfway point of his twenties and the 2000s, Lee was adrift, but he managed to regroup, at least artistically, with his 2005 album Awake Is the New Sleep. Reteaming with renowned indie rock producer Brad Wood, who helmed his 1997 LP Something to Remember Me By, Lee returns to the gently melodic, tentatively introspective indie pop that marked his best work of the '90s, but there is a difference here. Where that record, along with much of his previous work, was marked by a shy innocence, Lee is older now. He's been through the wringer and has had his heart broken, and it's given his music a greater emotional resonance. That alone would have made Awake Is the New Sleep noteworthy, but what makes it stand alongside Something to Remember Me By as his strongest album is that he's written a strong, melodic set of songs and Wood has given them a colorful but unadorned production that gives each tune its own character. It's not a great change -- he's still a gentle, low-key pop singer/songwriter in the vein of Evan Dando -- but the subtle changes in tone and perspective make Awake Is the New Sleep a nice, low-key comeback and an album that proves that Lee is beginning to reach his musical maturation. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide