'So There' gives Ben Folds fans more of what they love

Ben Folds’ new album, “So There” -- his first solo release since Ben Folds Five temporary reunited for 2012’s “The Sound of the Life and the Mind” -- opens with the words, “What is this?” In a way, this question is the thesis of the entire work (and, arguably, of all of Folds’ work). The singer-songwriter has made a career of creating what he calls “punk rock for sissies,” music that is often brutally honest in its satire, painfully blunt in its criticisms and, on occasion, emotionally engaging (read: draining). Few opuses bring on the water works and the giggles like Folds’ canon.

“So There” breaks down into two distinct parts. The first is the punky, dorky, honest music that Folds has been cranking out for years. The latter half consists of the three movements of Folds’ "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra," which he composed for the Nashville Orchestra. Hardly a stranger to taking risks with his music, Folds pushes boundaries by including his Concerto alongside his more traditionally Foldsian works on “So There.”

The album begins with “Capable of Anything.” In this track, a light, echoing piano riff builds as other instruments -- strings and winds provided by yMusic (the classical-pop group that collaborated with Folds on much of this album) and percussion -- join it in staccato fits to fill in every moment of the song. Things smooth out for the chorus, and the strings take the lead in the second verse with long, lethargic draws. The contrast is not reflected in the lyrical content of the song, as Folds continues his exploration of the song’s title. For Folds, “capable of anything” is not just a phrase of encouragement: “And I’m sure they meant / You could be president / Or you could just forgive me,” he sings.The vocal harmonies in this song are true to form for Folds, and the song has in spades the pep and irreverence for which he is known.

Folds breaks the malaise of the first three tracks with “Long Way to Go,” giving listeners a reprieve from the more introspective, ballad-like style of the preceding pieces. Soporific horns and piano, punctuated with snare drums and bass, combine to tell a meandering, quasi-meta story. The song counts down to its own end, with Folds pronouncing “Yeah we’ve got just five minutes” at the beginning of the five-minute song (and so on and so forth).

With “Phone in a Pool,” Folds lets himself get funky, allowing the bass and drums to stand out in front of the other instruments for long sections of the song. The singer talks about a night that gets slightly out of control, which turns out to be part of a larger trend; “Seems what’s been good for the music / Hasn’t always been so good for the life.” A whining guitar rounds out the chorus and gives the track a lazy-day feeling.

The innuendos really fly with “F10-D-A,” which is, in no uncertain terms, one elaborate sex joke (say the name quickly a few times). “F10” starts out innocuously enough, but it is easy to see the fast one Folds is pulling here. This is the song that an 11-year-old would write, and listeners’ inner middle-schoolers will have a ball giggling along to it. The song, even more so than “Long Way to Go,” is so unexpected among the otherwise emotionally hard-hitting material on “So There” that it just works in a way that is embarrassing to admit.

“I’m Not the Man” closes out the first half of the album, ending the journey with a return to Folds’ more introspective side. “There could be fewer days ahead than gone,” Folds repeats in the chorus, as he examines the man he is today and compares himself to the Folds of the past. The song is melancholy in every way, from Folds’ laden voice to the fervent strings in the background and the incessant high hat.

Despite Folds’ bleak conclusions about himself, fans of his music will adore his new songs on “So There.” Few musicians can produce such honest, dark music back-to-back with songs that cause listeners to laugh at the fact that they are laughing -- to say nothing of the original concerto at the end of the album. “So There” is a whirlwind of a record, transporting listeners all over the map of Ben Folds’ repertoire and taking them into uncharted territory. This is a journey that many will be glad they took.

https://play.spotify.com/album/49CyUxOuXqHM8njiJXNX8d