Alec Benjamin has often described himself as a storyteller first and a musician second. That description is ever-present in his debut album, “These Two Windows.”
Released on Friday, May 29, the 26-year-old Arizona native’s project features 10 tracks, four of which are brand new. The other six are previous singles, the oldest being “Must Have Been the Wind,” which was released on June 13, 2019.
The album continues Benjamin’s signature sound of acoustic guitar, lyric-heavy verses and unique high-pitched voice, first introduced in 2018 with the launch of “Narrated for You,” his 12-track mixtape that gained him mainstream attention.
Pulling from Benjamin’s own vulnerable experiences, the album proves to be a collection of stories, rather than simply songs, about difficult, real-world issues that people often face. In storytelling fashion, many of the songs are also based in metaphor.
He opens up the album with “Mind is a Prison,” a song about struggling to escape one’s inner thoughts based on a metaphor that his mind is literally a prison.
The first verse opens with “I don't live in California, I'll inform you, that's not where I reside / I'm just a tenant, paying rent inside this body and I / Got two windows, and those windows, well, I call them my eyes / I'm just going where the wind blows, I don't get to decide.”
The music video for “Mind is a Prison” features Benjamin sitting in a giant fish tank as it fills with water until eventually he’s completely submerged because, after all, “[his] mind is a prison and [he’s] never gonna get out.”
“Demons” follows suit with a similar theme of struggling with self-criticism.
In his YouTube series “The Story Behind The Story,” Benjamin said, “‘Demons is about [how] sometimes I feel like I’m my own worst enemy, I’m my own worst critic and I kind of tear myself apart.”
A prominent acoustic guitar line and crisp vocals are showcased in the chorus as he sings “I've got all these demons hiding underneath / Nobody can see them, nobody but me, and you're the reason / The only thing that keeps me from diving off the deep end / Because I've got all these demons, demons, demons.”
As shown in both the song’s chorus and bridge, “Demons” also addresses being thankful for those in your life who are always there to help during tough times.
“Sometimes I feel that way about my sister, or my mom or my dad or my best friend. When I’m going through something and maybe I take out my frustration on them and they still stick by my side ... It’s important to have people like that in your life,” Benjamin said in “The Story Behind The Story.”
The album’s fourth track, “The Book of You & I,” nostalgically takes the listener through a past relationship of Benjamin’s, one he wishes never ended.
Between the finger-picked guitar line and lyrics that cannot help but cause the listener to sympathize with his heartbreak, this track proves to be one of the prettiest songs on the album as Benjamin sings “We never got to finish the book of you and I.”
Further down the list, “Jesus in L.A.” comes in as number six, another song based on a metaphor. The song was inspired by Benjamin leaving his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona to pursue music in Los Angeles during high school, only to find out upon arrival that L.A. was not the promised land that many in entertainment believe it to be.
“When they sold you the dream, you were just sixteen / Packed a bag and ran away / And it's a crying shame you came all this way / 'Cause you won't find Jesus in L.A.,” the second half of the chorus goes.
“Jesus in L.A.” was the second single released from the album and is currently one of the album’s most popular songs based on Spotify streams.
The album concludes with “Just Like You,” an emotional song written about Benjamin’s father with the message, “One day, I'll have a son or a daughter / And when I'm a father too / I hope that I am just like you."
In grassroots singer-songwriter fashion, the majority of Benjamin’s music is highlighted by acoustic guitar and other accompanying instruments. But while the melodies are catchy and the music solid, where Benjamin truly shines is in his lyric writing and ability to tell stories.
Benjamin has always been vulnerable in his music, and “These Two Windows” is no exception. While the songs are great on the surface, a deeper understanding of his lyrics opens up a whole new world to listeners and gives insight into Benjamin’s life, not just as a famous singer but as a person struggling with real, human issues.
This article was originally published on www.thehofstrachronicle.com.
Image courtesy of Genius
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