Written, produced and performed by Benson himself, Metarie is the latest release to come off this Midwestern singer-songwriter's acclaimed album Lapalco. It is a musically surprising and lyrically self-conscious piece of lighter mid-tempo guitar/indie, and it utilises Brendan's slightly plaintive but bright-eyed vocal drone to good effect.
Metarie has a refreshing rock song structure - there is no chorus as such, but just two catchy verses and two harmonically unusual bridges, with the second bridge turning into a lush refrain that plays out the song. The lyrics are a little tongue in cheek - first Brendan is meeting a girl and trying to overcome her cynicism, and next he's expressing a lifestyle dissatisfaction that a move of location would seem (falsely) to solve.
Sad to say, such lyrical and structural playfulness will probably fail to spark interest from pop radio play lists. However Metarie should help a new bunch to realize that Brendan is an unusual talent, and they will seek out Lapalco to find more of the same - which will be no bad thing for them or for Mr Benson.
more