Album Review: What Matters Most by Ben Folds

It's been eight long years since Ben Folds' last studio album, So There, his collaboration with the string ensemble yMusic. A lot has happened since then to say the least and some of it has colored the writing for his new album, What Matters Most. In 2023, Folds has turned his attention to disgruntled internet trolls, the nature of fame, and growing old, amongst other sharply observed topics.

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The Over The Hedge Soundtrack >>> Approximately four minutes into What Matters Most, Ben Folds sings "clouds with ellipses, they come and go, and come and go, and fade away", a line that unfortunately proves itself to be a precise descriptor of his newest full-length release. Throughout the entirety of his career, Folds has made his mark on the music scene through incisive lyricism, captivating and labyrinthine chord structures, and melodic flourishes, courtesy of both his vocals and his prodigious amount of talent on the piano. What Matters Most is dead on arrival first and foremost because it plays to absolutely none of Folds' strengths, and falls flat on its face when it attempts to lean into his natural gifts as a songwriter and performer.

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