Ben Folds
That’s how NPR music critic Bob Boilen describes Capable of Anything, the first track from the Ben Folds/yMusic album So There, which dropped today on NPR’s All Songs Considered website.
Calling it “the most lovable piece of music I’ve ever heard from Ben Folds,” Boilen praises how yMusic fills in and punctuates the lyrics, which Ben says are about needing to accept and embrace the things you purport to be capable of doing – even the ones that you’re not so proud of. Indeed, the song is a piano romp backed up seamlessly by the lilting flute and neo-baroque winds and strings that yMusic brings to the mix.
The album So There is slated for a September 11 release. Folds and yMusic continue their summer tour.
It’s a recent project by Australian singer-songwriter Ben Lee, not Ben Folds, though it does feature a track on which Lee is joined by Folds on Life As Unusual. The album features several other artists who sit in with Lee, including Zooey Deschanel, Sean Lennon and Neil Finn, and is a benefit for the Q’ero Project, which supports the Q’ero people of Peru, the last living vestige of the Inca people.
Recording sessions are set in Ireland for February as Ben reunites with his 2011 touring band Sam Smith. Ryan Lerman, Chad Chapin and Andrew Higley. They’re putting together a collection of songs that Ben has been writing, inspired by the various “Rock This Bitch” improvs from live shows. A 2016 release is tentatively planned.
Ben has teamed up with 
Buoyed by Ben Folds’ efforts and a connection made last summer, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has designated Nashville’s Music Row a National Treasure.
