“If I Don’t Lie Down” is a new song by Ben Drysdale, an Australian award-winning singer-songwriter. It’s his debut single as a solo artist after fronting many bands since 2004. The song came spontaneously at 2 am in Hawaii when he had to be on a bus at 4:30 am to make his flight home. Soundwise, Ben Drysdale combines his outstanding singer-songwriter abilities with some of the finest properties borrowed from many music genres. Perhaps indie folk comes to mind first, but you’ll notice how the elements of folk rock, acoustic rock, alt-folk, pop rock, and others found their way into this ear-appealing sonic equation. Ben Drysdale used these additional sonic ingredients as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details that uplift his debut single on an entirely new level, while he remains loyal to the primary sonic direction. Therefore, these experimentations with different styles resulted in one of the best acoustic folk rock tracks you’ll hear this year.
Drysdale poured all his experience, knowledge, skills, talent, ideas, musicianship, heart, and soul into “If I Don’t Lie Down.” You’ll notice how his exceptional vocal performance emphasizes everything he tried to achieve with this song. Skillfully performed vocal harmonies perfectly balance low, mid, and high notes during all segments, giving more complexity to the instrumentations and overall ambiance. Ben Drysdale also wisely arranged all the catchy, semi-distorted, reverby themes and leads, while the arpeggiated and regular chord progressions performed on a flawlessly recorded acoustic guitars served as a perfect backdrop. You’ll also hear how the slide technique on the lead guitar gives more calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal vibes, making this song even more ear-appealing. Of course, this debut single wouldn’t sound this good without a powerful rhythm section. You’ll notice how equally complex, vividly hearable, warm-sounding basslines provide more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth, while the outstanding drumming performance based upon moderate, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics offers groove and pace.
Ben Drysdale proves he’s a profoundly creative singer-songwriter thanks to his writing, composing, arranging, recording, and producing abilities. “If I Don’t Lie Down” has a perfect structure built upon many cleverly assembled segments, catchy instrumentations, and engaging lyricism. He also thought about those tiny details and nuances, so his debut song shines with pure quality from scratch to finish. “If I Don’t Lie Down” will immediately become your go-to track whenever you need flawlessly executed indie folk music. The single is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it.
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