Brendan Benson has announced details of ‘Dear Life’, his first solo album in almost seven years, and shared the video for new single ‘Good to Be Alive’. The album will be released via Third Man Records on 24 April.
Brendan says the song ‘is kind of weird, to be honest’ and you understand where he’s coming from from the moment that fractured glitches spear into the piano-led opening. More in line with Beck or Tame Impala than Brendan’s usual confessional indie rock sound, it finds the singer-songwriter pondering some of life’s big issues (‘There is no you, there’s only me. I don’t believe in Heaven and Hell, no. In fact there’s no plan as far as I can tell. It’s every man for himself. It’s only me, it’s no one else’) before tackling the moon landing conspiracy (‘The closest we’ll ever get was filmed on a Hollywood set’) and the concept of aging (‘I’ve been searching for that hunger that I knew when I was younger’), Brendand finishes the song in rhythmic and rhapsodic style as he proudly declares ‘I still feel young inside’ over Deerhunter-esque melodies.
