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Album reviews Music

Ben Stevenson

Ben Stevenson – Dirty Laundry

Torontos Ben Stevenson spent 13 years in a punk band before branching out solo. But you wont find any trace of that history on his debut seven-track EP. Dirty Laundry is modern electro-R&B: chilly beats and slightly hazy soundscapes intermingle with live drum and piano sounds and sometimes-Sealian vocals.

The most obvious (maybe too obvious) influence is Miguel evident in both Stevensons soft falsetto singing and ooh-ing and his simmering sexytime production. That makes sense, considering Happy Perez who also contributed to Miguels breakout album, Kaleidoscope Dream produced three of the seven tracks.

Its actually more interesting when Stevenson borrows from 80s soft rock and lite funk, getting Hall & Oatesy on Ecstasy and Girls Like You, or when he pulls back totally, like on the final track, Start Over, which finds him alone with acoustic guitar, lamenting a love gone wrong.

One or two more uptempo songs would have shaken up this long slow-burner nicely, too.

Top track: Girls Like You

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