"City Break" by Ben Monkhouse

It seems an awfully long time since the first of the "Hot Music Live Presents" fundraising gigs for The Tin: we've now had six, three more are scheduled for 2025 and I might be working on more for 2026…..

I hope no one has forgotten that Ben Monkhouse was the first artist to play in this ever lengthening series of concerts.

It seems even longer since John Rivers first insisted that I meet Ben: and so it is. One takeaway must now be just how high he sets his quality control standards. He has released his debut EP ‘Brainflood' (the title track of which also appears on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume Thirteen‘ and three standalone singles during that period & clearly take his time getting his music just how he wants it to sound.

Today we have a new addition to his body of recorded work: "City Break" which in his own words is: "a good lesson for going for what you want, even if that's a person just go talk to them. Life's too short man, go on that City Break and have a good time.."

I am sure this fits well into his expressed desire to document "…journeys through the human experience, exploring themes of love, heartbreak, personal growth and social commentary…" and especially his desire for better emotional & communal connection. It's from the positive end of suggested strategies & hence complements the more angsty songs he also writes.

If you were at that gig (or indeed any other he's played) or heard the songs he's put out thus far, you'll be able to predict some aspects of "City Break": an intense, therapeutic sound which wraps you in a nurturing embrace. If you can find many other artists whose signature style is as intimately warm then you're doing well.

He conjures this up with remarkably few ingredients too: or at least that's the immediate impression one gets. His voice is the key: it's such an important part of who he is that the accompaniment necessarily attracts less attention. Close examination (trying to set aside listening to his vocals in the interest of reviewing), reveals several instruments but the production blends them so sympathetically with each other & in collaboration with the singing that the sense is of a pretty holistic creation. Which is in keeping with the ethos of the artist & the song.

What is interesting however is that when I first heard it on Soundcloud, it's been filed under "R&B and Soul". For someone I had thought of as an intense singer-songwriter with his acoustic guitar, that was a surprise at first but then when you hear it, it's true. Ben's writing has certainly reached this style whether it was that or anything else before (not that genre really cuts much ice with me). Subtle evolution which almost take me by surprise certainly gains my respect for craftsmanship.

This is a gifted musician with a clear vision of what he wants to say & how he'd like to say it, developing his craft with care and patience and setting his standards high.