Paddington Uniting Church, Sydney
Thursday April 11, 2013 :
Whether you love or hate his music, one thing about Ben Lee is indisputable. He defies convention. The same man who gave the world ‘Catch My Disease’ back in 2005, went on to release Deeper into Dream in 2011, a concept album almost completely void of listener friendly pop songs, centred around the dreams of Lee’s family and friends. At a time where he is being reintroduced to families across Australia as the newest mentor on ratings juggernaut, The Voice, Lee is gearing up to release his ninth studio album, Ayahuasca: Welcome to the Work, an album based on Lee’s experience taking a hallucinogenic Amazonian “medicine” called ayahuasca. Checking my expectations at the door, my “plus one” and I entered the Paddington Uniting Church on Oxford Street, just a stone’s throw from Lee’s old stomping grounds of Bondi, to hear the new album played in full.
Entering the church, it felt as though we are walking into a session at the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival rather than the show of an ARIA Award winning songwriter. Barefooted patrons sat on the hard floor, some perched on cushions or throws, eyes gently closed, meditating, while the night’s opening act performed chants in Sanskrit and Hebrew. Brief but blissful sets by Californian husband-wife-duo Avasa and Matty Love, and The Shattering, a project of Lee’s collaborator on Ayahuasca, Jessica Chapnik Kahn aka Appleonia followed. Chapnik Kahn was especially brilliant, owning the stage as she sang passages straight from a copy of The Gnostic Bible. Up next was Peruvian philosopher Juan Ruiz Naupari, who delivered a thought-provoking multi-faith address on awakening the divine being within, translated into English by his yoga instructor wife.
Having been “awakened” by the supports, it was time to begin the “experiment” as Lee called it, to begin. “This record was created out of a desire to collectively awaken consciousness…I believe music has the power to awaken consciousness,” Lee explained. “There will be some awkward bits and failures but powerful moments too…Then there might be some catchy songs at the end, like a dessert,” he joked. Then from a tiny stage packed with eight musicians, Ayahuasca hit us like a freight train. Although a far cry from the pop mastery of ‘Cigarettes Will Kill You’ or ‘Love Me Like The World Is Ending’, this is some of Lee’s best work to date and hearing this new music for the first time live felt like a perfect introduction. Moments of introspective quiet like, ‘Meditation on Being Born’ somehow sit perfectly against rapturous tracks like ‘The Will To Grow’ and ‘I Am That I Am’, the latter of which was a show highlight.
At 34-years-old, Lee has said he has no interest in making music for the masses and would rather create music for those who have a need for it. Although the crowd on Thursday night barely measured in the hundreds, let alone the thousands, looking around the room, seeing one girl sitting cross-legged in the front row with tears streaming down her face, each person seemed grateful for the music and for how it had changed them. A quote Lee shared from a friend on his latest music sums up the evening, “You are making the best music you’ve ever made and you are committing career suicide.” Interestingly, Lee seems content in doing just that.
Reviewer: Amelia Parrott