Ben Connor is set to launch his new alternative rock, blues and folk album, Stone Fields, in his hometown of Katoomba.
Connor has been described as the musical love child of Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave and David Gray and has been performing regularly, both solo and with his duo, Ben Connor and The Butterman, at venues and festivals in the Blue Mountains and beyond since 2017.
Dark, with splashes of light, layered with instrumental palates and propelled by Connor's special brand of husky baritone vocals, Stone Fields's songs journey through love, fatherhood, contemplations on mortality, majestic and mythical landscapes and more.
"Something that I think comes through in my songs is my love of music with a kind of sweet, deep, honey-like melancholy," said Connor.
"Stone Fields is a lyric I took from one of the songs, but I also thought it summed up, or at least hinted at, a bit of a theme and tone that runs through a lot of the songs on the album. That being that no-matter how harsh the environment you find yourself in or, as the author Albert Camus said, 'no matter how hard the world pushes against you', there's always this thing inside you, this 'invincible calm' or life energy... whatever you want to call it, 'pushing right back'.
"So, there's melancholy in there, but I reckon there's also a kind of celebration of life, love and beauty triumphing over adversity."
Stone Fields was recorded at a number of locations over the course of the pandemic, including Sky Valley Studios in Warrimoo, BCMuse Studios on the Queensland Sunshine Coast and Connor's home studio in Katoomba.
Replicating the album experience, the launch will feature a full band, with Davor Opacak on bass, Frankie Symes on drums and Stuart Christie (The Butterman) on midi keyboard and rhythm and lead guitar.
The album will be released on all streaming services on Thursday, February 2 - two days before the launch at The Baroque Room, Katoomba on Saturday, February 4.
You can learn more about (and hear snippets of) Stone Fields on Ben's social media via his website www.benconnormusic.com.
Tickets are available at www.stickytickets.com.au/4m2x7.
