Ben Lee - Ripe
(2007)

Review by Sean Lynch
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For years, Ben Lee was known in the Australian Music industry as 'that arrogant little shit with a bad voice' - however, all that changed in 2005 when Lee's album "Awake Is The New Sleep" became a multi-award winning hit. Now he's back with some ripe pop songs for the picking, but will they bear the same fruit as it's predecessor?

I recall reading a review for one of Lee's previous albums (2002's "Hey You, Yes You") a few years back. It was coming off the indie success of Cigarettes Will Kill You, and the reviewer suggested that while Lee's effort on that particular album was, ironically, still a bit ripe - that he sensed that an album of genius wasn't far away. And he was right, with "Awake Is The New Sleep" an almost perfect piece of sweet indie pop (and included such hits as Catch My Disease, Into The Dark and Gamble Everything For Love). But what happens after you've reached perfection? Where do you go from there?

"Ripe" is by no means a step backwards for Lee - however, there are no enormous leaps forward here either. Besides the wonderfully crafted Love Me Like The World Is Ending, "Ripe" is rife with sickly sweet, and often cheesy, melodies and catchy chorus'.

This isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's a testament to Lee's ability to craft a pop song that each and every track on "Ripe" is so easy to sing along to.

American Television, Numb and Sex Without Love possess all of the lovable qualities of Lee's previous radio hits - and don't be surprised when these all get played to death on Nova and Fox FM over the next year or so. That's actually one of my greatest fears, is that commercial radio stations will grab hold of these sorts of tracks and ruin them for everyone like they did with Catch My Disease, to the point you simply despise the song every time you hear it - which is a shame, because they are such fun tracks.

What Would Jay Z Do and Birds and Bees are unashamedly camp and overt novelties - which could be seen as a little bit of a misstep on Lee's behalf. While they are likable songs, it is the likes of Jay Z and to a lesser extent Bees (which is actually quite catchy) that stop the album from being a step forward creatively.

Having said that, there's more than enough substance on offer to even things out, Just Say Yes and Blush the obvious stand outs.

It will be interesting to see how the songs hold up over the next few years. While Lee has obviously learned a thing or two from fellow musicians Ben Folds and Ben Kweller when it comes to writing sweet and charming ditties, you just get the feeling that "Ripe" may not age all that well.

Only time will tell, but for now, chuck it on the iPod and turn it up loud - this is the Sunday arvo summer BBQ album of 2007.

ALBUM RATING: 3.5 out of 5

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