Hi, my name is Ben and my blood is the main ingredient in Monster.
Before you do anything else, watch this.
That is my good friend Frank officially announcing, in his own inimitable way, the launch of Always Choose In Person, my third 'solo' studio album. I've harped on enough about the process of recording it over the last few months and the, like, five people who read this blog will already be aware of how excited I am - but I really am.
The few people who have heard bits and pieces from Always Choose In Person already have had a lot of very nice things to say about its songs. A couple of my friends have described it as 'Hollowpoint 2012', which is a bit weird, but I appreciate the sentiment - I certainly feel like a lot of the pop-punk elements that I grew up playing have wormed their way back into my writing and to be fair, the process of actively writing the songs with more of Joe and Frank's input (at least, a lot more than on the last two records) has meant that it basically is, as Joe put it, "Hollowpoint, but with you singing all of it. You bastard". I'm not sure how much you'd agree with the comparison, but I guess it does kind of feel like if we were still writing as a band now, what we'd be writing might not be too far off Always Choose In Person.
If you've read this far on, then I'm guessing you don't mind being bored to tears by my thought process, so here's another nugget for you: the album name. Over the last few months, I've made a few choices throughout every aspect of my life that have led me to the decision that pretty much everything is better in person. In a world of wondering why someone hasn't e-mailed you back, or what exactly someone meant by a text message, it's easy to forget that we can actually talk to people and it tends to be the best way of doing things. You need to be brave and you'll probably spend your fair amount of time in freezing train stations (metaphorically speaking), but the good eventually outweighs the bad. If you're given a choice in how best to deal with a situation, or a friend, or a complete stranger, always choose 'in person'.
Over the next few weeks, I might throw up blog posts about some of the individual songs, if I can think of a way to get any thoughts, feelings, or recording memories to sound interesting. For now, there are a few things you can do to get into the Always Choose In Person mood:
Firstly and most importantly, pre-ordering the album at www.benjionelung.com will give you an immediate download of the first three songs (which are great, trust me), whether you choose to pre-order just the digital download, or the physical CD. I want you to own the CD. Of course, it's all about the music and at the end of the day it doesn't make too much difference how you choose to pump it into your ears, but there's something about owning a physical CD of my album, about kicking it around the footwell of your car, about lending it to a friend, about using it as an attractive coaster, that really appeals to me. To try and drive this point home in a slightly more capitalist way, if you pre-order the album for the minimum amount, I will make more money if you buy the digital album - I want you to buy the CD instead. You'll also get all the usual bonus track goodness, a personalised message and a load of other junk if you pre-order the CD, so it's kind of a good choice.
Secondly, I've designed a load of new Benji One Lung t-shirts for you to use in showing your friends exactly how cool you are. Again, I would be flattered just to have people wearing these, so you can buy them at pretty much cost price by going to the Benji One Lung Store.
Thirdly, if you haven't already, then check out the video I made of me miming along to another song from the album (it's a slightly older mix than the final, release version, but I'm pretty sure you won't be able to tell). You can listen to the song while you watch it here.
Finally, I'm pleased to announce that the lucky(ish) winners of the draw for a CD copy of the album are:
Chaundra Nelms
John Stribley
Ant Russell
Nerys Nichols
Karen Barton
John Stribley
Ant Russell
Nerys Nichols
Karen Barton
You guys are all awesome and I'll drop you a line soon to sort out delivery - thanks to everyone else who entered, too; you are all pretty cool.
The official album launch is Saturday 19th May - the album goes on sale in its entirety at midnight and then that evening, we're going to party the shit out of Shintori. I don't know how clear I can make this, but I mean party, not just gig - we're going to have an awesome time actually celebrating the release, not just sitting around being polite and watching me bust out a few awesome songs (I'll probably do that too though). Everything will kick off at around 9pm in Shintori Bar, Barnstaple - if you're of the Facebook persuasion, you can get the rest of the details here.
I hope I see you there, random anonymous reader - it's going to be an awesome night. Pre-order Always Choose In Person and let me know what you think.
YOU ARE UPDATE!
- Ben
