The Test Drive: Bentley Jones – My December (The Closing of the Year Reissued Deluxe)

Last year we reviewed Bentley Jones’ album “The Rebellion”, which later earned a well deserved spot on last year’s “Best #Indie Albums of 2015”. I really began to like Bentley around this time. I then got the privilege of interviewing him. That’s when I began to respect him. Not just as an artist, that happened when I first saw his video for “The Rebellion”, but as a human being. This is a good guy all around, and it shows in his music. His music shows the conviction of a determined man on a mission to succeed and nothing will suppress his vision. But he also has a sweet and caring human side to him that shows every bit as much as his determination. And it is this “Yin and Yang” duality that really gives his music a very introspective and inspirational touch. It, to me, is there in every song to certain degrees. Maybe it’s because we had such a good conversation that day I interviewed him or maybe he just wears his soul on his sleeve, but I can tell you this: when Bently Jones wishes you a Happy Holidays, he means it. And that is what makes this album so special!

You can get the standard and deluxe editions of Bentley Jones’ new album “My December” HERE.

About Bentley Jones:
Once upon a time there was an enigmatic creature with an iconic red mane who travelled the world hypnotising exotic audiences with his sensuous sounds and pulsating beats. Arming himself with over 20 million combined YouTube hits, 10 million sales of featured appearances and 6.2 million artist downloads & streams, he has returned to his homeland to unleash his latest album “The Rebellion”.

This is the tale of a man named Bentley Jones.

Born to an automotive executive and one of the UK’s first female rally drivers in the sleepy suburbs of central England, Ben immediately broke convention by pursuing a career in music. Breaking out as a remixer at the tender age of 17 he topped multiple club charts with his productions for the likes of Madonna, Britney Spears, will.i.am, Sia, Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea, Calvin Harris and Lady Gaga who followed him on Twitter after he produced 2 remixes for her.

Expanding his skills into song-writing, arranging and composing Bentley began contributing scores to some of the world’s best known franchises like “The X-Files”, “Tekken”, “Sonic the Hedgehog”, “Gradius” and “QQ Dance”. With a taste of international success as a producer Ben looked further afield to make his debut as a recording artist before planting his roots – unintentionally – as far away from home as possible.

Inspired by the soaring melodies and spiritual influences to their mainstream music, Bentley introduced himself to the Japanese industry in 2009 and after getting to grips with the language soon found himself with 3 different offers of a record deal. Deciding to sign with EMI / Universal Music, he tested the waters with the debut single “Sunaoninaretara FINAL NIGHT”. Without any promotion or radio play Bentley shocked the label by immediately selling over 30,000 copies placing the song in the top 5 of Japan’s International Chart. The single was quickly followed by the album “TRANS//LATION” which saw Bentley become the first ever British artist to release a Japanese album on a major label.

Bentley continued his success in Japan with various projects including the 2012 album “UPGRADE 1.0” which saw him collaborate with native artists for the first time including May J. After working together on “UPGRADE” May J. was enamoured by Ben’s sounds and called on him to write and produce for her next album. Ben’s work also caught the attention of May J.’s record label AVEX who signed him to their management arm as he became the first ever foreign writer and first ever foreign producer to join Japan’s biggest music company. Ironic that it was also the same management label of Ayumi Hamasaki who offered her personal approval of Bentley’s debut at the start of his Japanese career.

Not content with conquering one country, Bentley began feeding his music to the rest of the world. His first English EP “So Much More…” included the title track which was featured in the number 1 selling video-game “SEGA All-stars Racing”. It also featured 1 of 3 songs that received a staggering 1.1million streams in just 5 days after a promotion with the US social network Gaia Online. The sequel album “TRANS//LATION 2” made Bentley the 19th most viewed musician on YouTube the week of its release and his adaptation of the theme from “Devil May Cry 4” has accumulated 1.5 million streams.

Travelling the world has allowed Bentley and his music to evolve into a unique amalgamation of cultures and influences. His restrained and inscrutable demeanour is the perfect juxtaposition to his fiery, dynamic musical style; drawing people to his persona just as much as to his songs. And there is no better place to embrace this contradiction than his homeland of the UK. After performing and promoting all over the world for the majority of his career Bentley returned to the UK in 2016 to record and release his latest album.

SOURCE: Official Bio

LINKS:
http://www.bentleyjones.com
http://www.facebook.com/BentleyJonesMusic
http://twitter.com/Bentley_Jones
http://www.youtube.com/BentleyJonesMusic
http://www.soundcloud.com/BentleyJones