Ben Haynes latest single Something's Got A Hold On Me out 31/10/2020
I’m really excited to introduce you to the music of Ben Haynes. Ben spent most of his time playing the drums in his parents' garage, disturbing the peace and quiet in his home town of Mansfield in North Nottinghamshire. Then, his focus shifted towards song writing after hearing Ray LaMontagne’s ‘Trouble’. Ben describes his song catalogue as a mixed bag of genres but mostly flitting between Pop, singer/songwriter and Country.
Ben has already had the privilege of performing on some classic and historic stages, including the main stage at the legendary Rock City in Nottingham, not to mention a little place called Ronnie Scott’s in Soho. His latest song, Something's Got A Hold On Me, inspired by the TV series Stranger Things, will be available to buy from 31st October 2020, and will be available to stream on all major services.
I had not heard of Ben before he contacted me with his latest single, new and unheard of, I thought “if I like this will it be 8 or 8.5?” Well, boy was I wrong and am I glad he did contact me. Some reviews are hard to write, but this one has been so easy, and a joy to do…. So here goes, ready ? Don’t blink or you’ll miss it…..
“10 - Go buy it !”
There, hows that ? You want more ? Don’t know why, says it all really lol. Seriously though, here’s some more.
Ben describes his style as pop, singer / songwriter and country, but turning this one on, you can definitely feel the country influence here, but it also has a wonderful cheerful rockabilly feel to it. Something's Got A Hold On Me is like a classic punk track, short and sweet at just 2 minutes 23 seconds long.
The lyrics are fantastic. It starts simply as what appears to be a song about a guy addicted to the love of a woman “There’s something happening to me, fever got me all so weak. This vision in my mind, send shivers down my spine. Somethings got a hold of me. The doctor check my ears and my throat, each of my ten fingers and toes. Boy I know you’re feeling blue, there’s nothing I can do. Somethings got a hold on you.”
The chorus giving the sense of the all encompassing power of this addictive love “get a little low, I get a little high, if you’re not going to be in my life, maybe I ought to die.”
But the second half of the song adds in a much more creepy Strange Things influenced edge to it, “I pray for one night of peaceful dreams, instead I wake to sounds of my own screams” lines about shadows moving too quick, being cooped up in the house, and that “tip tap on my door” give it a sinister and much darker feel. I loved the two parts to the lyrics, and the lyrics really give it a classic psychobilly edge. Love it !
It’s one to play loud, and the guitar work in particular reminds me of something like Tiger Army & Nick13. There are some wonderful musical touches in here that work so amazingly well together. I love the muted blues like vocal introduction, the use of tapping drum sticks, the simple but so effective “Oooos” in the chorus that you just have to sing along to, and then towards the end the increasingly fuzzy guitar riff building on the dark lyrics bringing the track to a sudden and abrupt crescendo ending.
I loved it. Pure and simple, and I can’t wait to see what Ben produces next. Thanks for sharing this one Ben. It’s great, beautifully constructed and fun., bringing a big grin to my face every time I play it. So, after saying all that, the original review still stands……
“10 - Go buy it !”
To find out more about Ben and his music, check out his website here: www.benhaynesmusic.com
