Album Notes

Ben Stewart is a singer, songwriter, poet and producer from Brisbane. His strong, emotional voice and intelligent song craft has often drawn comparisons to the likes of Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, U2, Bruce Springsteen and even (at times) Don McLean and Leonard Cohen; artists searching for the gray areas of integrity between artistic vision and pop-sensibility. “…here’s the voice of a modern day poet coming to terms with an often brutal world” Sam Cutler, former manager of the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead. In 2006, Ben first released his first CD. Mostly solo guitar and voice, ‘In the Absence of Fear’ features songs of love, loss, hope, paranoia and the many facets of the human condition. This CD was completely self-produced, self-funded and self-released but even though the scale was small, it found its way into many hands. Off the strength of this release, Ben found himself supporting many nationally recognized artists such as Pete Murray, the Whitlams, Diesel, Moving Pictures, Bertie Blackman, Iota, Old Man River and Rene Geyer. In 2007 a new group of songs being finished and recorded to form the basis of the next CD, ‘Social Architecture’. As Ben’s song writing evolves, so have his arrangements, with some of Brisbane’s most talented young musicians providing the sonic back drop to the 10 new tracks. The new material is already garnering attention, with a demo of one of the tracks receiving a Q-Music (Qld Music Association) Q-Song Award at the end of 2006. “…the singer/songwriter displays a penchant for heart warming and bone-crunching truths about love and life…” Time Off Magazine, Brisbane