Ben Ottewell Compares Brexit To Being 'Knifed In The Back'

Having initially come to fame as one of the vocalists from UK rockers Gomez - the one with the unmissable gravelly baritone - with that band having been on hiatus for much of the decade, Ben Ottewell has been emboldened to embark on a solo career. Now, that side vocation has quietly bloomed into fruition with the recent release of his third solo album A Man Apart, and Ottewell himself is starting to feel more comfortable as an "established solo artist". 

"It's an interesting proposition for me," he chuckles. "I'm really proud of [A Man Apart]. I was trying to think of how it's different, and I think the songs have taken a bit of a turn this time. I think [2011 debut] Shapes & Shadows was a bit of a vibe-y record, leaning a lot on English folk and in a way quite pastoral. It was a small record really - quite a compact little thing - where [2014 follow-up] Rattlebag was very riff-based. Now I think the songs are coming through a bit more on this, which I'm very happy about.

"The songs maybe just reflect me getting older - they're changing, and I think they're getting better. They mean something nowadays, the lyrics for me used to just be filling in space. It was like, 'Okay, I'd better sing something now', but I think on this record there's a bit more kind of meaning there. A bit more of something behind the words."

Some of the new songs have taken on more of a socio-political bent as well. "It's very hard in the UK these days for current events not to have that impact on you, particularly with Brexit," Ottewell admits. "It's interesting times, especially with social media, which is great in a way but there's also a real danger that you just connect with people that you know and what happens is you end up just getting more of what you like. It's not broadcasting, you just get to see things which match your preferences.

"And I get my news from The Guardian in the UK - all of my friends are left-leaning liberals - and Brexit really felt like being knifed in the back by the rest of the UK. And I think for me and a lot of my friends - a lot of my friends who make music as well - there's been a massive coming to terms with that, and it's hard for that not to impact you.

"And then there's the Trump election as well - I spend a lot of time in America and have a lot of American friends - and it just seems like there's just been a massive mountain of shit dumped on us by the universe in the last year or two. It's hard for that not be reflected in the way you write."