I don't mind Ben Folds as an artist. I find what he does on his own of passing interest, and occasionally very good. The thing about Ben Folds is he's an incredibly gifted collaborator. I don't know why, but he always seems to do much better when he works with other people. And his list of colaborations is growing longer and more distinguished. He's worked with Amanda Palmer, William Shatner, Ben Lee, Ben Kweller, and of course the other two thirds of the numerically misnamed Ben Folds Five. My theory is that when he's working with somebody else he really wants to show them his best, but when he's only working for himself he's less driven. Whatever the reason Folds definitely plays well with others.
Nick Hornby is one of my favourite authors. I've read all his novels and several of his short stories. I like the way he writes characters and dialogue, and really think he's one of the best contemporary voices in literature. But what convinces an author he can write songs? I think the seed was first planted when Hornby's High Fidelity was turned into an off broadway musical. The show was not a success, but some of the songs took passages straight from Hornby's text, which would certainly have piqued the interest of the music fan in Hornby.
Lonely Avenue isn't the first time Folds and Hornby have worked together. Hornby penned a track on William Shatner's Has Been album. Something about working together must have appealed to the pair though because on the strength of that song they decided to create an album together.
No offence to Folds, but by far the best thing about Lonely Avenue is Hornby. His gifts as an author translate remarkably well to the medium, and because writing is what he does we're not subjected to the "baby, baby, baby, oh" crap that so many pop songs are reduced to. What we have instead is a collection of eleven short stories. They're funny, they're touching, they're full of quirky characters (both real and imagined) and they feel real. Some are biographical, some are purely fictional, and at least one is touchingly autobiographical.
The wonderful thing is that Folds rises to the challenge of the words, and has written some of the best music of his career. He turns the short stories into ballads, rock songs, classic pop. He really shows the diversity of his craft, and not once do you question where he's going with a song. Musically he knows as many tricks as Hornby does textually, and he pulls them all out.
The more I listen to this album, the harder it is to pick a favourite. The album has made me cry and laugh, and as much as I love music it's rare for either of those things to happen. If you like pop music then this album should certainly be in your collection. I just hope it's successful enough that they decide to make another one.
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