Bennett Walker Wales is an artist with a limitless potential. Growing up playing in bands and rock ‘n’ roll line ups from a young age, he has already grasped the meaning behind performing, writing and passionately pursuing music as a full time career. The Virginia Beach born troubadour has been trying to push his talents further and further, and has landed on looking inwards and releasing music under his own name and project.
The BWW project has taken on leaps and bounds, and since fronting another outfit in Bennett Wales & The Relief, he now feels like it is the right time to take the full step forwards. With a debut album on the horizon for BWW, he has been releasing a plethora of singles in build up, with the most recent being ‘Far Away Love’. The thing that hits you immediately is Wales’ amazingly high tenor vocal in this one, and though he says he has “never sang an entire song in falsetto before, and let me tell you, it was a challenge”, you certainly cannot tell.
Holding so much power and vigour already, the track is then surrounded by echoey synths and pounding drums before his vocal enters. Finding multi melodic lines within seconds, it is immensely immersive and draws you in instantly. ‘Far Away Love’ is a multi-genre exploration, delving into the pop-rock territory whilst finding little pockets of each along the way. In a song that doesn’t have guitars on it at all, with is usually synonymous with his sound, it’s a massively impressive offering from Bennett Walker Wales
Having performed alongside The Goo Goo Dolls, Vulfpeck, All American Rejects and more already, there is no doubt that Bennett Walker Wales will be once again sharing and owning the stage with his unique and infused pop-rock sound.
Q&A
Hey Bennett Walker Wales! What was the process in writing and recording like for ‘Far Away Love’? Sounds like it was a bit different!
Hey guys! So all of the songs from my forthcoming album started as demos that I tracked in my apartment. I wanted to see if I could write a pop track that didn’t have any guitars in it. I had spent a lot of the early days of the pandemic experimenting with different instruments. One that I really enjoyed was the synthesizer. I locked on to this groove and already had some lyrics content that felt like a good fit. And boom- Far Away Love was the result.
You say you don’t usually sing in falsetto, but you can’t tell! What made you do it in this style?
I felt like singing in falsetto just fit the overall mood of this tune, and it was something I had never done before in any other tunes that I’ve written. I also just wanted to try and challenge myself as much as possible with this song and the rest of the album. Experimenting lyrically and stylistically was a huge part of making the entire record.
Who are your main influences musically?
Oof- that question is tough! I grew up on punk rock, bands like Against Me!, The Gaslight Anthem, None More Black to name a few. But these days my appetite for new music is pretty insatiable. I manage a record store here in Virginia Beach, and that has really allowed me to be exposed to all kinds of new music. I try to absorb as much as possible. Lately I’ve been listening to: All Them Witches, Leif Vollebekk, Kaleo, John Mayer, Royal Blood and The War On Drugs.
What can we expect from your debut album?
My new album is the most honest I feel I’ve ever been in my songwriting lyrically. Mostly honest about myself. My doubts and struggles as an artist trying to make his way in the world. It’s a big introspective look at my life, and where I want to take it.
Anything in the pipeline in terms of live dates for 2022?
You can expect to see me and the full band a lot this summer and into the fall. We will be playing a number of festivals including Mountain Music Fest in WVA, Harborfest in Norfolk Va, and a few others we are going to be announcing in the coming weeks. You can also expect even more new music coming from my full band which I can’t wait to share.
