Ben Watt releasing new solo album 'Fever Dream' (watch the video for "Gradually")

by Bill Pearis

photo: Ben Watt @ Joe’s Pub, 2014 (more by Greg Cristman)

Ben Watt (Everything But the Girl) is back with a new solo album, Fever Dream, which is out April 8. He made the record, like his last, Hendra, with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, as well as drummer Martin Ditcham (Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden) and double bassist Rex Horan (Laura Marling’s Once I Was an Eagle). The first single from the album is “Gradually” which Ben tell us about:

I told the band I wanted Pentangle meets Crazy Horse. “Gradually” is about what can happen to a long ongoing relationship over time; the gradual shifting sands; how love mutates, changes speed; how interior worlds can be obstructive. I wanted the sound to have a grainy intensity. It’s just four of us in RAK Studio 2, pushing simple instruments – two guitars, double bass, drums – to the max.

John Jeanes directed the “Gradually” video which you can watch, and check out Fever Dream‘s cover art and tracklist, below.

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Ben Watt – ‘Fever Drea’ tracklist:
1) Gradually
2) Fever Dream (feat. M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger)
3) Between Two Fires
4) Winter’s Eve
5) Women’s Company
6) Faces of My Friends
7) Never Goes Away
8) Running With The Front Runners
9) Bricks and Wood
10) New Year of Grace (feat. Marissa Nadler)