Ben Wright Smith reintroduces himself with 'Echo Lodge'

One of the East Coast’s most consistent songwriters, Ben Wright Smith has recently been revelling in the release of his new project, the Echo Lodge album.

For long time followers, the arrival of this album is one that’s been in the wings for some time. A culmination of his EP releases Psychotropical and Volcano God Head Explodes, this record from Wright Smith brings the two together with a selection of new cuts. A fitting way to bring a trilogy of music together.

Since the release of his album The Great Divorce back in 2017, Ben’s adopted troubadour/natural storyteller energy has remained a strong presence throughout his music – and it’s become an endearing element of his live performances too.

Yet, we’re in PC (Post COVID) times now and while live music is still in its early stages of restarting, fans can still spend time immersing themselves in new music. In some ways, it’s the perfect time to get around records that thrive in experimentation.

And so with Echo Lodge, Ben Wright Smith reintroduces himself to old fans, while saying hello to new fans at the same time. Below, he gives a little insight into the process and where he sees himself as an artist today.

Check out ‘Heavy’ by Ben Wright Smith:

How does an album like Echo Lodge represent you as an artist, just as The Great Divorce perhaps did upon its release?

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I think leading up to releasing anything I’m usually half way into working on something else, so I tend to forget about it for a while. But, releasing things into the world is like a breath of fresh air. It’s like the songs are brought to life again.

I’ve been receiving lots of really nice messages from people about the record which I’ve really appreciated. I think with The Great Divorce, I had a lot of songs that I wanted to play around with and a bunch of them ended up on the record. However with the new album, it feels more like a summation of what had been going through my head over the last few years more specifically.

Is there anything about the album’s new material that has surprised you, when it’s come to examining your artistry and songwriting as it is now?

YES! Releasing music as we went and finally putting it together somehow ended up feeling more like a story. Bringing out the album in three parts kinda felt more like it has a start, middle and ending, and the full album feels like it brings those three worlds together. I listened to it again the other day and now I see the album pretty accurately depicts the changes in my life that I was unaware of at the time, which was very surprising.

Check out ‘New Breeze’ by Ben Wright Smith:

You’ve always maintained a wide range of influences – are there ever times where you think you should edit those down, or do you thrive on experimenting with each release?

I don’t really think of it that way. I’m always writing lots of songs and I always want to try to bring something interesting to each one. I always loved how with early folk artists there might just be one element different in each song, maybe a harmonica or a harp or something. I like stamping each song with a bit of individuality like that.

Of course they may introduce different elements, but at the same time I tend to make albums more thematically based on the lyrics and what I feel like saying than trying to go for a sound that I think other people will like. Ultimately it’s very hard to guess what people will like, so I try to avoid it and just make what I want to. I’d never want to get stuck repeating something because I’d found some recipe for some kind of pop hit.

Where are you heading with music next and what is exciting you about the prospect of creating new works in 2021?

We’re already well into recording the third record, which we’re hoping to bring out later this year if we can! Apart from that me and the band are so happy to be playing music again, seeing our friends in Melbourne perform and we can’t wait to be able to move a round a bit more and share the new music with people across the country.