Fever Dream is the third solo studio album by English singer, songwriter, author, and multi-instrumentalist Ben Watt.[12][13] It was released on 8 April 2016 on Unmade Road. Self-produced at RAK Studios in London, it continues his relationship with guitarist Bernard Butler, begun on his award-winning 2014 album Hendra,[14] and adds guest cameos from MC Taylor of North Carolina folk-rock band Hiss Golden Messenger, and Boston singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler. It received a 9/10 review in Uncut magazine.[15] In a four-star review, the Guardian said: 'In his early 50s, he is making some of the best music of his career.'[16]
All tracks are written by Ben Watt, except where noted.
Fever Dream track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Gradually"
5:29
2.
"Fever Dream"
3:51
3.
"Between Two Fires"
3:20
4.
"Winter's Eve"
4:05
5.
"Women's Company"
5:09
6.
"Faces of My Friends"
4:50
7.
"Running with the Front Runners"
4:41
8.
"Never Goes Away"
2:52
9.
"Bricks and Wood"
4:22
10.
"New Year of Grace" (Benjamin Goldwasser, Andrew VanWyngarden, Ben Watt)
4:28
Personnel
Ben Watt – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, piano, synthesizer
↑ Wintery Brit-folk closer New Year Of Grace is also special, a full-circle update on the steadfast, if weatherbeaten, live affair which the Opening track Gradually visits earlier in ts slow-burning voyage. [May 2016, p.89]
↑ Fever Dream's AOR and folk stylings see Watt picking over the bones of his life, ruminating on such themes of love, loss and family in a wry, wise and unsentimental manner. [Jun 2016, p.117]
↑ Suffused in both the dread mortality inspires and the peace that comes with accepting its inevitability, it simultaneously addresses the effects that the passing of years has on one's relationships and the compromises these demand. [May 2016, p.66]
[2]