Maverick
2004
Give It All Away
About This Album
Ben Jelen means well. He's a pretty, earnest, young singer/songwriter, whose sincerity oozes from every track of his polished debut, Give It All Away. Produced largely by the Berman Brothers, with a couple of cuts helmed by the Matrix and a track by Eve Nelson plus a handful of other producers, the album attempts to turn Jelen into an immediate superstar, a male spin on the sensitive female singer/songwriter who rose up in the wake of teen pop in the early 2000s. He seems tailor-made for the role -- he's very good-looking and has a sweet voice, so he's easy to turn into a pinup star for teenagers too old and hip for Clay Aiken, and he has a transparent emotional streak to shame Chris Carrabba. Musically, he's a curious blend of Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton, and Take That's Gary Barlow, crossed with Coldplay, whose intro for "Clocks" he cops on "Give It All Away." He sounds most comfortable on ballads, since it gives him the best platform for his earnestness, but they're hurt by their lack of tunefulness and po-faced sensibility. Like emo rockers, Jelen's defining characteristic is his emotionalism and sensitivity, and that fuels his music, whether it's on the ballads or the midtempo pop tunes with vague radio-ready dance beats, either provided by the Bermans ("Every Step") or the Matrix, who struggle to rein him in to their signature sound with "Christine" and "Stay," but can't overrule his formless sincerity.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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