Album Review: Ben Folds Five - The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind

“I wanted to be Stevie Wonder, but I have to settle for this vanilla thunder,” Mr Folds passionately wails on Draw A Crowd, before imparting some sound advice: if you can't draw a crowd, draw dicks on the wall. Yes, the piano-driven power trio of Ben Folds Five are back, and have dragged the suburban white-boy ennui that framed their previous releases so perfectly out of the ground.

The years since 1999's emotionally-gripping The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner saw a lot of work from all three members of the band. Now, as they reunite once more in the live studio setting, the inevitable effects of age have matured their sound slightly, but not at the risk of ruining the angst and poignant melody that enamoured so many fans in the first place. It's a near-perfect return to form, as Folds' piano melodies (he obviously still worships his metronome) ride all over Robert Sledge's deep, earth-shaking bass and Darren Jessee's jazzy drums. Do It Anyway, the first single off The Sound… is a huge, rollicking statement of free will and motivation; it's tempered fervently by tracks like Hold That Thought and Thank You For Breaking My Heart, which revitalise the harrowing personal moments evident on any record Folds has had anything to do with. Tracks like the aforementioned Draw A Crowd and On Being Frank inject some characteristic and almost cynical humour into the whole thing.

Yes, the album does bring up the old lost-love moments of previous works, but the almost symbiotic interplay between these three musicians has been sorely missed. Welcome back, you lovely tear-jerking bastards.