Ben Folds and Nick Hornby are set to release their joint album ‘Lonely Avenue’ on September 27th.
Nick Hornby has always been closely associated with music. The author of ‘High Fidelity’ the English literary figure also released ’31 Songs’ a series of essays based on long time favourites from his record collection.
American songwriter Ben Folds featured in ’31 Songs’ and the two struck up a friendship. Discussing new projects, the pair decided to embark on an ambitious Transatlantic album spanning music and prose.
Nick Hornby would write the lyrics, then send the sheets over to Ben Folds. The piano player would then compose music for the words, with a song eventually developing between the unusual pairing.
Long rumoured, the results are set to be released on September 27th. New album ‘Lonely Avenue’ features work from both Ben Folds and Nick Hornby, as well as contributions from arranger Paul Buckmaster – who previously worked with Elton John and Leonard Cohen.
Recorded on 2-inch tape, ‘Lonely Avenue’ will be available on heavyweight vinyl, cut at Bernie Grundman Studios and pressed at Record Technology, Inc.
Nick Hornby was clearly overjoyed by the results. “At this stage in my career, I want to collaborate with all the talented people I can find, and I’ve always been a big fan of Ben Folds’ music. It’s been a real privilege to watch and listen to Ben at work, and I’ve learned a lot about how proper songwriters like Ben think.”
Speaking to Paste, Ben Folds revealed how he went about matching music to the words he was given. “I kind of ran the gamut between being as simple as I’ve ever been, and sometimes having to go (Russian composer Dmitri) Shostakovich on some of them.”
Meanwhile, Ben Folds is accepting submissions from fans to conduct a series of ten minute interviews to be broadcast live on the web. Between 15-20 people will be involved, with the web based chats to be shown in the run up to the album.
Ben Folds / Nick Hornby is set to release ‘Lonely Avenue’ on September 27th.
