East Sussex singer-songwriter Ben Westwood back with new album

East Sussex singer-songwriter Ben Westwood is back with his first new music in several years.

His self-penned ten-track album We are Human showcases Ben’s unique style, blending soul and folk roots with blues and alternative rock.

“It is deliberately diverse,” explains Ben, who lives just outside Eastbourne. “I take influences from soul and blues and folk and rock. I am very influenced by the 60s and 70s and I'm a massive Beatles fan. I'm a huge Dylan fan and I'm a huge fan of Leonard Cohen but I also love soul and upbeat soul, and I think the album reflects my own diverse musical tastes. There are love songs and there are some serious social commentary songs but there are also some fun songs.”

The album is Ben's return: “I did a couple of albums in 2017 and 2019 and then the pandemic hit. I didn't do much music for quite some time but I returned to songwriting about 18 months ago. The first song I wrote was from the break-up of a relationship, and it's funny how bad things are behind lots of music. I guess it is because the emotions are very real and very strong, and once that first song opened the door I started writing more songs.”

The current single When You're Gone, the fourth single from the album, came to him in a dream: “I had a dream and there was a lady singing a bluesy song. It was snatches of When You're Gone and bits of melody and I remember realising in my dream that it was original music. I have had that happen to me about three times now, and I think my subconscious realises that I need to wake up. I still have my phone recording of me at four in the morning softly singing it. It's quite magical when songs come to you like that. When I woke up I thought it was a really slow bluesy song but I've turned it into something a bit more up tempo now.”

The third song from the album is the album's title track We Are Human: “Like many people I am very concerned about the rise of AI. I wanted to write a song that was affirming who we are as people. The main chorus is we are human, we are not machines. It is something that I feel quite strongly about. I think we notice on a daily basis just how much the internet feeds back to us. Sometimes you're having a conversation with your children and then something appears on the internet that reflects your conversation. It has been listening to all the information and has been storing it away and using it. Actually now the people that created AI are worried about it, and when the people that created it are worried about it you know you need to be worried yourselves. I think we have to be more careful about it. I think we need to be a lot more careful. I think we need to get more control back into democratic hands”

The response ahead of the album release has been good. The singles Step Into The Light and We are Human have racked up over 150k video views and 20k Spotify streams between them so far. Both are produced by Mark Edwards, who has worked with artists including Katie Melua and Paul Weller.

Filmed on the seafront of Ben’s hometown Eastbourne, Step Into The Light’s video reflects the song’s message of hope and optimism, featuring Ukrainian refugee and now Eastbourne resident, Pilates instructor Olga Litvinova. The song has been played on dozens of radio stations nationwide, including playlisting on Boom Radio.