Ben Folds What Matters Most Review: Rote Reflections from Middle Age

The album amounts to a relatively familiar reflection on aging and the passage of time.

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Ben Folds, What Matters Most
Photo: Alysse Gafjken

“But Wait, There’s More,” the title of the opening track of What Matters Most, seems to suggest that, after an eight-year gap since the release of So There, Ben Folds still has something to say, and that the album might explore previously uncharted terrain for the singer-songwriter. But the song, which features a lovely piano melody and some Beach Boys-esque vocal harmonies, amounts to a relatively familiar reflection on aging and the passage of time—lyrical themes that Folds continues to mine for the majority of the album.

Throughout What Matters Most, tracks like “Kristine from 7th Grade” and “Fragile” attempt to make sense of the past and the existential crisis of middle age by examining difficult or failed relationships but too often feel trite or even patronizing. The latter finds Folds’s narrator chiding a “childlike” lover for being manipulative and abusive but offers no real insights into the subject of such relationships aside from remarking that there’s “something so fragile about you.”

A similar lack of nuance mars “Kristine from 7th Grade,” as Folds ruminates on how the titular friend from grammar school transformed into a Bible-thumping conspiracy theorist. Folds attempts to tackle such serious-minded topics from a genuinely sympathetic perspective, but the characters that he summons frequently feel like two-dimensional stereotypes. As a result, he can come across as a moralist rather than a narrator with a compassionate eye.

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On “Exhausting Lover,” Folds sounds even more out of step, both rhythmically and in his embrace of topicality. His singing fails to sync up with the track’s rhythm at certain points, while lyrically he indulges in some fairly clichéd narratives about feeling old: “I’m never gonna say ‘YOLO’ no mo’/My mind says no/My body says no/Let this be over/ Exhausting lover.”

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When Folds turns his gaze inward, the results are more successful. “Winslow Gardens,” which features What Matters Most’s catchiest hook and exudes an energy reminiscent of Folds’s heyday, uses an apartment as its central image to ruminate on how it feels to navigate middle age. The lyrics effectively convey Folds’s conflicted feelings of melancholy and joy at how both his life and the world at large have changed over the last few decades.

The majority of the album, though, broaches the topic of aging with songs that feel too overwrought and too overproduced. For one, the title track features some pleasant vocal harmonies and poignant lyrics about making sense of one’s own identity after the loss of a loved one, but the instrumental is so clean and slickly produced that it almost feels sterile.

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Elsewhere, “Clouds with Ellipses” is an introspective song about the necessity of savoring life’s small moments, but Folds’s lyrics are vague to the point of meaninglessness. Unfortunately, the song, like so much of What Matters Most, lacks the snark and self-aggrandizing pity that made the singer-songwriter’s early albums, like Rockin’ the Suburbs, so relatable.

Score: 
 Label: New West  Release Date: June 2, 2023  Buy: Amazon

Thomas Bedenbaugh

Thomas Bedenbaugh recently graduated from the University of South Carolina with an M.A. in English. He is currently an instructor of freshman literature and rhetoric.

7 Comments

  1. What an absurd review, completely missing the points Folds makes so eloquently and ironically. „Kristine from the 7th grade“ actually is a lyrical masterpiece, speaking with haunting sadness from the first person narrator’s pov. Did this reviewer really listen to this album or rather write down his preconceived notions? And the sheer quality of Folds‘ writing and arranging abilities don’t get a mention either. This album is a high point in Folds‘ already distinguished career.

  2. ya…i mean, to each their own – by all means… but I feel like this is pretty out of touch with what the artist was going for and trying tk convey. Is this RTS? no. But that said, its not trying to be. Respectfully, simply stating this is a record about growing old is a rather lazy review. I feel like as a reviwer, one might try and find a bit of context about the album they are reviewing prior to publishing for this exact reason. Its like walking out of a movie thats based on a book bc you know the end of the book and assume the movie is the same – only to have a conversation about it later to find out you were wrong and didnt know because you left early. Anyone expecting a banger will be disappointed. Anyone who has tagged along for the ride and saw things starting to mature around SFS should enjoy this as they have been around for the ride Folds has invited us along for. There are a lot of takeaways from this album but I gotta tell ya… for me, personally, getting old wasnt one of them.

  3. What complete drivel. I hope the reviewer reads these comments and at least embarks on a journey of self reflection that might even lead the the revelation that he doesn’t have the capacity ‘to get’ Folds’ nuanced music and lyrics. Exhausting Lover is about feeling old? Hell, no!

  4. I rarely feel compelled to reply to reviews, but this has all of the insight of a contrarian nineteen year old who is too cool for everything. But even stunted people can eventually grow up.

  5. I can’t imagine that the reviewer here even bothered to listen to the record. The criticisms are immature and snarky and fail to take into account the depth of the lyric writing, and the sheer beauty of the music. I found this album to be far more of a social commentary, sadly reflecting on our current state of discourse. There is far more of the ageless than the aging in these songs. Reviews like these are the ones that make me grateful I have a mind of my own and IQ above room temperature.

    • Kudos to all above commenters! It’s clear the reviewer hasn’t listened to the album & has no idea of the depth of Fold’s music. Truly a disgrace!

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