Rating: 8.2/10

Highlights: Small Things, End of the Affair, Conrad, All is Now Harmed

London born singer-songwriter Ben Howards’ sophomore effect, I Forget Where We Were, is transformative, but it is not the end of his transition. It’s the messy part in the middle of the changing. The sound of his debut album, Every Kingdom, has been warped into something reminiscent of Bon Iver’s 2011 self-titled album, with flavors of U2 circa Achtung Baby. Howard is finding himself, and the path for the rest of his career, and this album is certainly helping him do so.

Howard immediately swaps out the summery, shining tone of his debut and opens with “Small Things” which is brooding and reflective. The wailing bend of the strings on his guitar opens the song with Howard asking in the chorus, “has the world gone mad?” The album remains primarily electric, knocking the listener quickly off the anticipated track offering from Howard. Gone are the percussive guitar slaps, and the refined acoustic guitar riffs. The feeling of fullness that Every Kingdom has left and been replaced by Howard utilizing the space between notes and riffs beautifully, adding even more bite to the notes he is playing. He experiments with the music on the album, often leaving lyrics behind and jamming too close the song. Howard is a talented enough songwriter and guitarist to keep it interesting. Track 8, “End of the Affair” exemplifies this perfectly. Right when the song seems to be a close, the guitars come back and Howard          howls “Is this it, is this desert?” over the loud cymbal crashes, and the wailing guitar. Whether it’s the bright opening guitar riff of “Conrad” or the finale “All is Now Harmed,” Howard knows how to put emotion into music.

Lyrically, Howard is a poet, spinning fantastic imagery in a collection of reflections. These songs are meditations that lead to a revelation. Howard is wading through complicated subjects, whether it’s the deterioration of the world around him, thriving in a relationship, heartbreak, or a creeping loss of meaning and complete disillusionment.

These songs are tied together so perfectly on the sonic level, the rippling guitar and rolling drums creating a canvass on which Howard can question freely. If Every Kingdom was the blissful summer day, I Forgot Where We Were is the evening thunderstorm. Its aftermath will be something entirely different from where things started, and the process of changing that atmosphere is something fantastic to watch. He separates himself gracefully from his debut, moving in a much more exciting direction.