BEN CHAPMAN - DOWNBEAT

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

December 17, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Simplicity isn't easy. For a chef, a painter, or a writer, clutter can be a distraction. Stripping away what's unnecessary or superfluous leaves the artist with only the essential. The same can be true of a songwriter, striking the perfect balance between the elements of a song. 

Nashville songwriter Ben Chapman is flirting with simplicity on just his third LP.  Produced by Anderson East, Downbeat proposes a seamless country-soul project, eloquently understated in its execution. Originally from Lafayette, Georgia, Chapman earned his way into the Music City's songwriting circles, placing his work with acts like Flatland Cavalry and Muscadine Bloodline in addition to releasing a pair of his own records. Many of the right pieces can be heard on 2022's Make the Night Better, and moreso on last year's Amber Sounds Vol 1. Chapman and East have sifted and assembled them for one of the year's memorable breakthroughs.

In the hands of Chapman and East, simplicity isn't about lack or absence. The mix for "American Sweetheart" is full. The song, written with Sean McConnell and Meg McRee wouldn't sound out of place on today's mainstream country-pop radio. Shaun Richardson's clean pedal steel lines are as trad as Darren Dodd's sturdy drums are contemporary, with McRee's sweetly unobtrusive backing vocal adding depth and dimension to Chapman's lead. But Downbeat isn't aiming for commercial radio spins. 

On a Spotify playlist for his debut, Ben Chapman celebrated those who inspired his own artistry: Guy Clark, Bobby Charles, Donnie Fritts, Tony Joe White. "Almost Home" strikes its country-funk target, with Greg Garner's bluesy electric slide and Anderson East's keys: Break out the guitar, hope it's in tune / Life ain't nothin' but the twelve-bar blues / Halfway broke, payin' my dues. The title track, written with Mando Saenz, evokes Tony Joe White's swampy guitar groove, with lyrics that might serve as Chapman's modus operandi: I can't speed it up and I can't play too slow / Gotta find the right groove with just enough soul. 

With smart lyrics that don't play games and sounds that were recorded largely live, Downbeat might bring to mind Brent Cobb's own 2016 breakthrough, Shine On Rainy Day, another masterwork of simplicity (produced by Brent's cousin Dave). Like Shine On, Chapman's songs are more likely to simmer than to bluster. Written with frequent collaborator Jon Decious, "Star Of Monterey" is a soulful Memphis number: Got Jesus on her necklace / Smokes cigarettes for breakfast / Damn it, why'd he make her that way. With a voice that sometimes brings to mind Leon Russell, "Baby Don't Cry It's Saturday Night" is among the record's most likeable cuts. With weepy wah-wah guitar and more harmony from Meg McRee (Chapman's frequent cowriter and girlfriend), the song seems effortlessly laid-back: There's a big full moon like a crystal ball / And it's sayin' there's a whole world outside of your four walls. 

With its big band Southern rock, "If I Was You" lands like Anderson East's own music, including one of Chapman's most ambitious deliveries as well as a rare, real-live guitar solo. "Finish What You Started" is built around a chewy guitar hook, while "Don't You Dare" boasts a deep bass bounce from Greg Garner. While East sometimes encourages a retro approach to arrangement and production, he avoids backdating Chapman's songs a'la Dan Auerbach, or forcing an overabundance of consistency like Dave Cobb. 

The Downbeat  sessions are full and filling, but they never flirt with bombast. Chapman and McRee duet on Dylan's "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You", but sidestep the common mistake of trying to out-Dylan the original. The beautiful simplicity is in the way all these pieces dovetail so tastefully, how the lyrics never overreach, never take themselves too seriously. The playing is full, but leaves room for the sessions to breathe. On his third record, Ben Chapman is confidently, simply himself. 

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