No matter what style of music you’re into, ‘Progress’, the new album from UK artist MASS!VE DYNAM!C has something for you.
The brainchild of progressive rock multi-instrumentalist Benedict Harris-Hayes, the 13 tracks on ‘Progress’ will take you from gentle pop rhythms to hip hop (‘Let Me Sing For You’, featuring JK), funk and R&B (‘Giving Your All’, with Ro, and ‘Flowers’), pure instrumentals (‘Falling’), ethereal pop (‘No Such Thing As Perfect’, ‘Applause’, ‘Liquidity’) reggae (‘Proper Tings’), and a retro, Wurlitzer organ style synth track, which will take you back to the late 60s-early 70s, in ‘The Devil Is In The Details’. It’s a massive undertaking, but of course this isn’t Ben’s first rodeo, having shown he’s got the goods with his previous releases, ‘OCEANICA’, and ‘ENOCHIAN THEORY’, among others.
Benedict wrote most of the album over a 2 year plus journey, which saw him travel throughout Asia before settling in New Zealand. The Covid-19 Pandemic struck, and so he decided it was time to return to the UK. It put an end to his travels but it nonetheless fired up something else in Ben, which was to finally get the album finished.
“I feel that writing ‘Progress’ is quite an achievement, considering I wrote and arranged most of the album on the road while traveling throughout Asia in late 2019/2020. Equally, what I am proud of is that this all came together during a pandemic. The guests I have on the record are from all across the globe. That’s a heck of a thing to do in these strange times…and I feel this community of artists helped me grow as a songwriter and producer. It’s a true worldwide affair and just shows how small the World is when it unites for art.”
“I cannot underestimate what traveling throughout other parts of the World has done for me over the years. Embracing all those different styles of music really sparked a different approach to writing things on this record. It’s not immediately obvious, but this album is as much influenced by western genres and artists, as it is by styles such Gamelan, Nurthi, and hearing tons of music I’d never usually come across at home. The different rhythms, the non-western melodies, and the different instrumentation just swept away my cobwebs of musical inactivity and allowed me to freely write what is effectively my ‘pop record’, without restraint!”
“It really is a musical tribute to all the music and creatives that have brought me such joy over the years…and I can only hope people enjoy this my attempt at returning that joy.”
‘Progress’ was released on September 6 via Ben’s ‘Prog On!’ label, and it’s available via Bandcamp for donations, along with all major streaming media platforms. Watch the video for ‘Let Me Sing For You’, featuring JK, below. Stream and download here. You can find out more about Benedict Harris-Hayes on Facebook.
Comments