If you were around in 2011, you probably couldn't escape the sound of a rhythmic acoustic guitar being slapped like a percussion instrument. It was everywhere. Ben Howard's debut album, Every Kingdom, turned him into a household name almost overnight, but if you look at the trajectory of songs by Ben Howard since those early beach-vibe days, it’s a total trip. He didn't just change his sound; he basically dismantled his entire public persona and rebuilt it out of modular synths and tape delays.
A lot of people still want him to play "Keep Your Head Up" at every show. He usually won't.
It’s actually kinda fascinating. Most artists find a "winning formula" and milk it for decades. Howard did the opposite. He took the folk-pop success that won him two Brit Awards and decided to move toward something much darker, more ambient, and way more rewarding for people willing to actually listen instead of just having it on as background music for a summer BBQ.
The Acoustic Purist Era: Where It All Started
In the beginning, songs by Ben Howard were defined by the "pick and go" style. If you’re a guitar nerd, you know exactly what I’m talking about—that percussive hitting of the strings while simultaneously picking a melody. It’s hard to do well. Songs like "Old Pine" and "The Wolves" felt like the outdoors. They had this propulsive, kinetic energy that made you want to buy a van and drive to Cornwall.
But even then, there was a bit of grit under the fingernails.
Take "Black Flies," for example. It’s a devastating breakup song. While the rest of the album has this golden-hour glow, "Black Flies" showed a hint of the melancholy that would eventually take over his entire discography. It wasn’t just "happy folk." It was technically proficient, emotionally heavy music that just happened to be catchy enough for the radio.
Honestly, the transition from Every Kingdom to I Forget Where We Were in 2014 is one of the most jarring pivots in modern British music. He swapped the bright acoustic tones for a Fender Stratocaster drenched in reverb and delay. The songs got longer. The lyrics got more abstract.
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When the Sound Turned Dark and Electric
By the time I Forget Where We Were dropped, the "surfer dude" label was effectively dead. The title track alone is a masterclass in atmosphere. It starts with this iconic, looping guitar delay that feels like it’s echoing in an empty hallway.
The songwriting shifted from external observations of nature to internal, often painful, self-reflection. "End of the Affair" is probably the peak of this era. It’s a nearly eight-minute epic that starts as a quiet whisper and ends in a frantic, distorted instrumental breakdown that sounds like a panic attack. It’s visceral.
Fans who came for the "Keep Your Head Up" vibes were often confused. But this is where the cult following really solidified. People realized Howard wasn't interested in being a pop star. He was interested in texture. He started working closely with Chris Bond and eventually the likes of Aaron Dessner (from The National), moving further away from the campfire and deeper into the studio-as-an-instrument mindset.
The Noonday Dream Shift
If you thought the electric guitar era was a big change, Noonday Dream (2018) was a whole other planet. This is where songs by Ben Howard stopped being "songs" in the traditional verse-chorus sense and became "soundscapes."
- "A Boat to an Island on the Wall" is a sprawling, seven-minute journey.
- "Nica Libres at Dusk" uses micro-tuning and strange rhythms that feel almost hallucinatory.
- The lyrics became more about fragments of images—murmurations of birds, flickering lights, the heat of the desert.
It’s a divisive record. Some call it boring; others think it’s his masterpiece. Personally, I think it’s the most "Ben Howard" he’s ever been—completely uncompromising and totally immersed in his own world. He wasn't writing for the charts anymore. He was writing for the late-night listeners with high-end headphones.
Vulnerability and the "Is It" Era
In 2023, things took another turn with the album Is It. The backstory here is actually pretty heavy. Howard suffered two mini-strokes (TIAs) in 2022, which significantly impacted his ability to process language and even think clearly for a while. You can hear that confusion and "re-learning" in the music.
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The song "Couldn't Make It Up" is probably the most upbeat thing he’s released in a decade, but the lyrics are all about his brain misfiring. It’s catchy, but in a weird, glitchy, nervous way.
The production on these newer songs by Ben Howard is incredible. It’s colorful. It uses a lot of "Found Sound" and electronic textures, but it feels more human than the sprawling ambient stuff on Noonday Dream. He’s found a way to bridge the gap between his experimental urges and his ability to write a melody that stays in your head for three days.
Why the "Hissing" Matters
One thing you’ll notice if you listen to his later work—especially on Collections from the Whiteout—is the "imperfection." You can hear the hiss of the tape, the clicking of guitar pedals, and the ambient noise of the room. This isn't a mistake. Produced alongside Aaron Dessner, these songs were built on sketches and loops.
"Sage That She Was Burning" or "Far Out" don't sound like they were recorded in a sterile studio. They sound like they were captured in a moment. This "lo-fi" aesthetic is a huge part of why his modern work feels so authentic compared to the polished folk-pop of his peers.
The Reality of Seeing Him Live
If you go to a show expecting a retrospective of his greatest hits, you might be disappointed. Howard is notorious for playing almost exclusively new material. He plays what he's feeling now, not what he felt fifteen years ago.
There’s a real honesty in that.
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Seeing him perform "Walking Backwards" or "Days of Lantana" live is an exercise in watching a band communicate in real-time. They aren't playing to a backing track. They are twisting knobs, feeding guitars through modular racks, and occasionally making mistakes. It’s live music in the truest sense.
How to Actually Get Into His Discography
If you're new to this, don't just start at the beginning and expect a straight line. It's more like a spiral.
- The Entry Point: Listen to Every Kingdom if you want the classic acoustic guitar "wow" factor. It’s the easiest to digest.
- The Emotional Core: Move to I Forget Where We Were. This is for when it's raining outside and you're feeling a bit existential.
- The Deep End: Noonday Dream. Put on headphones, turn off the lights, and just let it wash over you. Don't look for a chorus; look for a feeling.
- The Modern Ben: Is It. This is the best representation of where he is now—rhythmic, slightly glitchy, and incredibly honest.
A lot of critics compare him to Nick Drake or John Martyn, and while the fingerpicking influence is definitely there, Howard has carved out a niche that is entirely his own. He’s one of the few artists who successfully escaped the "singer-songwriter" box to become a genuine avant-garde musician while still selling out theaters.
Practical Steps for the Listener
To really appreciate the complexity of songs by Ben Howard, you need to change how you listen. This isn't "Spotify Radio" filler music.
- Check the Gear: If you're a guitar player, look up his use of the D-A-D-G-A-D tuning and his use of the delay pedal as a rhythmic tool rather than just an effect. It’ll change how you approach the instrument.
- Live Sessions: Watch the "Riverside" or "Casino de Paris" live sessions on YouTube. You’ll see the physicality of his playing, which often gets lost in the studio recordings.
- Lyric Analysis: Howard’s later lyrics are heavily influenced by poetry and obscure stories (like the tale of the woman who lived in a tree in "Far Out"). Digging into the references makes the songs feel much larger.
The most important thing to remember is that Ben Howard doesn't owe anyone a repeat of 2011. His music is a moving target. If you don't like a particular song, wait an album—he'll probably be someone else by the time the next one comes out. That’s exactly what makes him one of the most vital artists working in the UK today.