"Pop, Folk, Rock, Progressive Rock influences merge in this innovative collaboration between the music of Ben Rusch and the lyrics of Simon Charlton."

Ben: Simon and I were keen on the idea of creating an entire album together, so after developing a concept, I asked for lyrics that would work with what we had in mind.

Musically, the aim was to afford Simon's incredible lyrics as much breathing space as possible. In some songs, that philosophy yielded intricate arrangements - e.g. in "I Will Love You For A Long Time..." or "She Comes To Me In My Hour Of Weakness") - to reflect the emotional depth of the poetry; other songs are unadorned and patient - e.g. "How Long Must I Wait..." or "That Night When We Fell" - letting the song be carried on the strong shoulders of the lyrics . The overall sound of the album is organic and natural, with a high dynamic range and, if I may say so, interesting ways of creating a modern Rock/Folk sound with a range of untypical instruments in the mix.

Simon:
'The Truth of All Love' is an album where Folk and Jazz find expression alongside Rock and Americana in an alchemy of sounds created by Ben, who thankfully refuses the workaday stomp of guitar, bass, and drums. The songs are coloured with piano, accordion, mandolin, saxophone, percussion, and viola. The range of instrumentation providing for multiple shades of sound that carry the vocal to the heart of the lyric - the core of the flame. Here are the raw elements of a world that is intensely personal whilst at the same time being wholly universal; love as hallelujah and love as horror.

Ben's music seems a paradoxical embracing of a complex simplicity that allows for ease of entry into the song whilst never settling into a wearying repetition of second-hand cliché and empty gesture. Given such a tenderly created framework I believe that the love song here rises from the mire of redundancy, challenging both musically and lyrically its tendency towards the teeth achingly saccharine, the vapid, and over-stressed.

In a world where the disingenuous seek to hold sway 'The Truth of All Love' concerns itself with emotional truths, truths located in the lyrics, truths given greater resonance and range by Ben's music and voice. In a world where so much of music is merely dead sound echoing through a house of cards 'The Truth of All Love' is a deliberately defiant creation of substance. The same defiance exhibited by the strangers gathering the bloodstained shards of their broken hearts. Despite love's trials, its torments and tears, they still believe and that perhaps, finally, is the truth of all love...

Ben and Simon:
We are deeply grateful to Cosmo Wallace who (was) volunteered to create a beautiful piece of art for the album cover. We hope the songs find their way into your ears, minds and hearts, there to live and breathe, and to sing hauntingly beautiful songs when the mood strikes them. Enjoy!

1. That Night when we Fell
2. I will Love you for a Long Time because you're Holy
3. And She my Vision will again be Known
4. She Comes to me in my Hour of Weakness
5. Until the End of Days
6. The Ballads are Soaked in Whisky
7. How Long Must I Wait Until the Ocean
8. Promised Land
9. The Ghost of you is the Heart of me
10. In Loneliness and Wine
11. The World is Turned to Darker Days
12. The Truth of all Love

Listen to: the entire album.

Release date: 12/24/2010
Ben Rusch lives in London England

Tagged as: Alt Rock, Folk-Rock

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