Review: Ben Harper ‘Wide Open Light’

Photo: Jacob Boll

Review: Ben Harper ‘Wide Open Light’

By Mike O’Cull

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Ben Harper unleashes a minimalist jewel with his newest album Wide Open Light.

Harper’s new set comes out June 2nd, 2023 on Chrysalis Records and is heavily focused on his new material and the connections between the songs. The arrangements are small but effective, building around Harper’s multifaceted singing voice and acoustic guitar playing. It’s a record of quiet power and grace that zeroes in on Harper’s ability to make us feel something in every note he produces. Wide Open Light often feels like the thoughts of a middle-aged human and the attempt to use them to understand that stage of life. Harper exudes a quiet, brilliant power that’s relatable and real, just like he always has, and proves how much his wisdom has grown since we first heard him. Fellow songwriting star Jack Johnson appears on the record’s lead single “Yard Sale.”

Ben Harper is a three-time Grammy winner with a genre-destroying style that takes in blues, funk, jam band rock, gospel, acoustic songwriting, as well as conventional and lap slide guitar. He’s grown a worldwide audience for himself and gained epic amounts of critical praise. In addition to making his own music, Harper has also produced major artists including Mavis Staples, Rickie Lee Jones, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Natalie Maines, Ziggy Marley, and others. He’s done studio work for people like John Lee Hooker, Charlie Musselwhite, Ringo Starr, Keith Richards, and Harry Styles and is widely considered an American musical treasure.

Harper opens the record with the delicate acoustic instrumental “Heart And Crown.” The track is a gentle, fingerpicked mood, not a showcase of Ben’s chops, and will softly shift you into the state of mind needed to take in the music that follows.

“Giving Ghosts” is a live recording of Harper with just a guitar and a slide. His dry, lonesome tone fits this lament perfectly and he easily sings with the lines he’s playing. Lyrics like “And now it’s all that I can take to sit and watch us break” and “Every day I look a little more like my father and every day I look less like me” outline the somber feelings that often hit once we get past 50. This is easily one of Harper’s career-best songs and displays the maturity and acceptance that time brings.

The soft and mellow love song “Masterpiece” is absolutely beautiful and needs nothing to be complete. He uses his whisper voice on it and it makes his words seem honest and true. The guitar and bass create a chilled-out pocket that feels safe and secure and gives Harper all the emotional space he needs.

Ben Harper “Yard Sale” feat. Jack Johnson

 
Jack Johnson arrives and joins in on the single “Yard Sale.” Johnson and Harper play and harmonize together in a relaxed, intuitive way that makes the song sound happier than it actually is. In truth, it’s a breakup song of crucial proportions and original insights that offers a fresh perspective on the people who walk in and out of our lives. Again, the words and melodies do much of the work and no hype or bombast is required. Harper can jam out when he wants to but his quiet side is just as mighty.

Ben’s title song “Wide Open Light” is another highlight and blends the tension of minor chords with a forgiving spiritual worldview. Other outstanding moments on the album include “Growing Growing Gone” and “Love After Love.” Ben Harper is completely spellbinding in this bare-bones context and the strength of his songwriting is beyond impressive. Wide Open Light goes down like the record all of his other releases were building up to and it’s full of the light touch of a fully-developed master. Highly recommended.

Ben Harper website