Otto Benson - Peanut

I’m not entirely sure anymore, but I think I picked this one up from the NTS Breakfast Show with Flo. In any case, that was five or six weeks ago and I’m still finding myself clicking play every couple of days - I love it when that happens! Somehow this record scratches a certain itch for me, satisfies a particular type of musical craving that keeps me coming back.

The opening track Mr. Peanut stands apart from the rest of the album and functions a little bit like an ouverture, announcing the moody-but-playful vibe of these 10 tracks and inviting you to specifically pay attention to the carefully crafted textures on display. What I mean is: the melodies are pretty simple, but each instrument has a very specific sound quality that excites me. Starting with the wonky guitar and bloopy bass, then introducing a super reverb-y marimba which turns into an ethereal-sounding synth and finally just one high-pitched bell sound - it’s the layering of these textures that makes the album for me.

The songs that follow that opener fit the shape of a more conventional pared-down guitar-centered bedroom folk, with diaristic lyrics to boot. But it just really works, the vocal lines are catchy and there are surprises here and there: a deliciously western-y pedal steel guitar on the languorous Drive Away, and a clarinet underlining the outro of Car Wash, turning the melody into a kind of anthem or dirge. But for me, it’s that carefully layered, full-bodied production quality on every song that just makes this album a very, very nice room to sit inside of.

~ Berry

Listen to the album on Spotify or elsewhere.