The Rain Falls Sideways by Benjamin Daniel

Album #4 from a compelling indie voice that is slowly approaching veteran status.

Aug 10, 2024

Hi Pal,

Before we get into it, I’d like to welcome all the new subscribers. This little corner has been growing steadily and it’s mostly because of your support. So, thank you.

Sometimes, connecting with an album on an emotional level does more harm than good for me because listening to it keeps me too enthralled to come up with any coherent thoughts that will be helpful to anyone as a review. This was my experience with Benjamin Daniel’s third album, Home Enough For Now, which I attempted to write about, but failed, three times in 2023 because of how deeply I resonated with it thematically.

Thankfully, I haven’t had to wait too long before I got another chance to talk to you about a new project from him, so let’s dive into The Rain Falls Sideways, shall we?

Over the last two years, I’ve spent time with Benjamin Daniel’s discography and there’s a consistency in his “emotive” approach to songwriting as he generally tends to blur the indie between indie rock and indie folk. So far, all the albums — apart from his debut, Shaping Season — have had a similar sonic palette with minor differences in execution and delivery.

In terms of general progression, I look at this new release as a follow-up to Shelterheart (his 2021 album), as he moves forward from the events of Home Enough For Now — an album that focused on grieving the loss of his mother.

‘Westward’ starts this album, on the surface, it sounds like a song about moving from one place to another. However, the more I’ve listened to it, the more I feel like the sentiments it captures and communicates are deeper than physical displacement. This song is about dealing with life changes and their effects on us emotionally, psychologically, spiritually and otherwise. Lyrically, there is a lot of reflection and unanswered questions but also words that reflect a desire to change and take a leap of faith, especially in the ways he delivers lines like, “You can tear down every wall I’ve ever known” at the midpoint and “Keep breaking me down” towards the end.

On tracks like ‘Take Hold’ and ‘You Slow Down’, he does something I’ve come to love and appreciate about his approach to songwriting — songs about everyday, boring and uneventful life. Usually, well-regarded lyrics get plaudits because they communicate something meaningful or thought-provoking. Over the years, Benjamin Daniel has found a way to express beauty in simple things. I also commend Allen Odell’s contributions to the latter track, as he has become one of my favourite voices on the scene lately.

‘The Morning Sun Above My House (From My Backswing)’ does some of the good work that its predecessor does — as alluded to above — with a very palpable nostalgic feel. He also makes a subtle connection between a longing for a childhood home and the believer’s longing for our eternal home in heaven. It’s one of those progressive tunes that is carried — both lyrically and musically — by the strength of the final moments as he sings;

This one’s for the ground beneath our feet
And lifting off as on a swing
Into a half-remembered dream
We knew as kids but haven’t seen
The home alive in future things
We wanna feel it, God

This one’s for the aching in our chests
A cry for love, a cry for rest
Up to the One
Who loves us best
Out from a temporary mess
Into the hope of the oppressed
We really need it, God

This one’s for a once-forgotten boy
Who reemerged with every toy
The cruel world could not destroy
When cruelness was counted joy
For all the goodness You employ
The joy, we see it, God

Carry us to our eternal home
We’ll know as we’ve been fully known
We’ll find the giants felled by stone
In every hole we felt alone in
Run with reignited bones
And not grow weary, God

When You take me home...

The first time I heard the title track, it reminded me of 1999 Bridge Creek-Moore Tornado a track on Home Enough For Now, and I checked to find that they were on the same key and had a similar flow, at least at the beginning. It’s certainly the emotional core of the album and is a heartwrenching tune about surrendering to God even amid the chaos of life. ‘Lights Out’ is the most upbeat tune on the album and continues the theme of surrender but from a completely different emotional and lyrical viewpoint. The closing refrain is probably the most fun I’ve ever had on a Benjamin Daniel song and Chase Tremaine kills it with his guitar contribution.

‘Fear Hymn’ is my favourite song on the album and if the title track is its emotional core, then I think this song is its soul. Also, from a Biblical standpoint, it is the most blunt and straightforward tune in this collection of songs. It draws a fine contrast between the painful experiences of our current human existence and the glory that awaits the body of Christ when we meet with Christ again. It also has my favourite lyrics from the album:

And all bad things come to an end
And all that’s good lives on
A billion years from now, we’ll sing
“A billion years the pain’s been gone”

And all bad things come to an end
And all that’s good lives on
A billion years from now, we’ll sing
“A billion years Your love is still our song”

The album closer, ‘The End That Never Came’ brings back his storytelling approach to the spotlight with a few memorable lines I enjoyed, like “The chaos of the city is no match for a King” and “Serpent lord was bold but he was bruised underneath”. It’s a testament to the ease with which he can weave biblical references and imagery into the narrative of tunes and this song’s easy strums, warm keys and synths make for an effective curtain closer to this journey.

This album clocks out at a little over 54 minutes and it’s still shorter than his previous two releases by a few minutes. But this is the first time I can say I felt the length. It may be because I’m getting older and weirder with my listening habits. Or the way some of the composition choices felt a tad monotonous and I didn’t get the amount of sonic diversity — probably due to the reduced number of features — that I got on the previous two releases. It may be numerous factors combined, but this album felt a little “less” in its ability to hold my attention for a cohesive listen.

Still, I cannot deny that this album has some of my best tracks from his entire discography and his songwriting is growing. The Rain Falls Sideways has a lot of things to say and it grips your attention from the first track and compels you to hear it out. That’s better than most records do these days.

Genre(s): Indie Rock, Emo, Indie Folk

Listen Here:

Major Streaming Platforms

Spotify:

Connect with Benjamin Daniel

Instagram | Facebook

That’s it for today.

Catch you soon!

Still Small Voice

Discussion about this post