Ben Silby releases debut album

Over the last few years, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Ben Silby has been making an impact with their rock-tinged alternative pop sound. Serving up infectious songwriting cut with meaningful lyricism, their diverse output sees them flow between intimate soundscapes and thrilling anthemic pop moments while winning over fans across the USA and beyond.

Ben delivers a sound that’s as unguarded as it is memorable through the kind of indie pop that holds a mirror to the chaos of growing up, burning out and blooming again. Now they return with a striking sense of self and sonic originality on their long-anticipated debut album can’t hang. A decade in the making, this genre-breaking outing captures the artist’s journey between 2014 and now, offering an honest, witty and truly personal take on queer identity, emotional turbulence and the absurdity of modern life.

Their work is a deft balance of contrasts; emotionally heavy yet musically light, confessional yet tongue-in-cheek. Drawing from the theatrical flair of Rufus Wainwright, the candour of Fiona Apple and the pioneering experimentation of Perfume Genius and James Blake, can’t hang sees Ben’s playful production and lyrical reflective make a space for heartbreak, humour and healing all at once. Inspired by the ever-changing pulse of New York City from 2009 to the present, Ben threads urban melancholy and queer determination into their sonic output.

From bedroom pop subtleties to alternative pop flourishes, each track on the record offers something unique and meaningful. Produced by longtime collaborator Miles Francis at Synthia Studios, the album distils the magic of experimentation with analogue beats, theremin textures and Ben taking their vocal delivery into new emotional spheres. “Miles just gets me,” Silby shares, a sentiment that echoes in the cohesion and care behind every track.

The album opens with new single “dirt i,” a rebellious statement of self, rejecting binaries in favour of becoming “nothing at all” via an anthem for those unwilling to be boxed in. From there, “my bad” hovers in the space between lust and regret, offering one of the album’s most earworm hooks wrapped around bittersweet self-awareness. “misfit,” initially penned back in 2015, reflects on Silby’s love/hate relationship with New York City, capturing the tension between staying and fleeing wrapped up in a grooving slice of moody rock-inflected pop.

“dirt ii” offers a shift, based in nature’s quiet wisdom, it balances existential disillusionment with gentle analogue percussion and Ben’s eerie theremin work. On “blue,” the oldest track on the album, Ben Silby explores a California romance in post-mortem tones, while the title track, “can’t hang,” anchors the project with a hazy, exhausted meditation on identity, overstimulation and the quiet ache of always being “on.” With can’t hang, Ben Silby delivers a debut that’s tender, theatrical and entirely engaging, offering the perfect snapshot of a talented artist with a worthwhile musical vision.

Commenting on the record, Ben offers, “Can’t hang is like a coming-of-age album. It really does chronicle my mistakes in love, communication, self-worth. These songs span a decade of my life, and they carry the hard truths I’ve learned on the way. I’ve always felt like I was on the outside looking in, but over the years I’ve seen that I’m the one putting myself on the outside-and it might be because I like it that way.”

Listen to can’t hang below