Not every two-year period measures out the same, noted Brendan Benson, the 51-year old Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and co-founder of The Raconteurs. Benson had just finished his well-received seventh album, Dear Life in 2019 when his world came to a stop. "I was rehearsing for South-By-Southwest and gearing up for a tour and had a band ready and then, of course, the world shut down," he said in a recent interview. The lockdown then began to reroute lives, societies and ambitions worldwide.

"Everything changed," Benson said. "I went to work on some songs so I'd have new material when things opened up." Over months with minimal interactions, those songs coalesced and took on lives of their own, he said. Two years of semi-isolation, of fading relationships, of the natural inward turn that comes with less human contact unexpectedly pushed Benson's song-writing into new places. Instead of being an afterthought, his solitude evolved into, Low Key. The catchy, upbeat lead track "Ain't No Good," pokes fun at destructive self-absorption while the guitar-heavy "Whatever's On My Mind" skewers Benson's own hyperkinetic, stream-of-consciousness thinking. And then there's the most unlikely track of all: A cover of Gerry Rafferty's smooth 1978 hit, "Right Down the Line."

Confined to his Nashville based Readymade studio, Benson played every instrument on Low Key and handled all of the initial production. Michael Ilbert then mixed the album at Hansa Mixroom, Berlin, Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone mastered it at New Jersey's Sterling Sound. The end result was exactly what Benson had been searching for - even if he didn't know it at the time. Those years spent honing his craft as a songwriter, producer and touring musician, turned what could have been a liability of isolation into something far deeper, a body of work he described as the best of his career. "I have nothing to prove anymore," he said. "With age and experience comes a certain wisdom and freedom. I feel comfortable, confident. I don't need validation. That's why I am so excited for everyone to hear this. "I think I've finally figured it out."

Released December 2, 2022 via Schnitzel Records on 180 gram limited edition coloured vinyl.

TRACKLISTING: 
01. AIN'T NO GOOD
02. I MISSED THE PLANE
03. PEOPLE GROW APART
04. RIGHT DOWN THE LINE
05. WHOLE LOTTA NOTHIN'
06. WHATEVER'S ON MY MIND
07. ALL IN
08. SOMETHING A LITTLE LIKE HOME