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BEN LEE
RIPE
Turn to Webster's Dictionary and you'll find that "ripe" has a number of definitions, most of which revolve around the concept of being ready for use: "brought to perfection or the best state; completely matured."
No surprise, then, that Ben Lee has named his sixth album Ripe. Having spent fully half of his 28 years crafting some of the catchiest tunes to be heard at discriminating radio everywhere, Lee is now poised to reap the same kind of mass appeal that he's already established in his native Australia - where he's taken home four ARIA Awards (Australia's version of the Grammys®).
"I think this record will connect with anyone who has a genuine love of pop music," Lee says of his second effort for New West Records (US)/Inertia Records (Australia). "This isn't about using 'pop' as a means to a fast buck, or in a condescending way - it's about how things used to be, when quality pop records won out, and the best selling records were, simply, the best records."
Produced by John Alagia (John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Ben Folds), Ripe represents a new pinnacle for Lee, whether it's the on the album's first single, "Love Me Like The World Is Ending," the piano-led march against apathy that is "Numb," the joyously charming tribute to "American Television" (replete with exultant "woo-hoo-hoo"s on the chorus) or the catchy duet with Mandy Moore, "Birds and Bees," inspired by the Grease classic "Summer Lovin'."
"That fell together pretty easily," Lee says of the Moore connection. "I'd been thinking a lot about how innate the search for love is for people, and after I wrote it I went to a Mandy Moore show. Backstage she told me she was a fan, and it just came to me that she'd be the perfect voice on the track. I really had no Plan B - Mandy was just so perfect!
Ripe also benefits from guest appearances by members of pop band Rooney on "American Television," "Birds And Bees," and "Is This How Love's Supposed To Feel?" and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte on "Sex Without Love". Both bands have long been "good mates" of the melodious master.
"That's one of the joys of being in the music game for a long time," Lee enthuses. "You meet the occasional young band who are still learning how to change their guitar strings, and the next thing you know - bang! They've sold a gazillion records."
Even for an industry that sometimes cherishes youth above all else, Lee's career is something of a surprise: the singer/songwriter headed the well-regarded teen-pop act Noise Addict when he was 14, drawing the attention of such well-respected names as Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and the Beastie Boys' Mike D., who released Lee's first two solo albums on their Grand Royal label.
"It was a slow and steady, but ridiculously early start," Lee laughs. "But overall I'd say it gave me an advantage. I've learned what to do, and what not to do. Ben Folds said I have the best of both worlds: I'm a veteran and a late bloomer at the same time!"
Lee's first New West/Inertia release, 2005's Awake is the New Sleep, was the one to put him over the top: that was the album that won him the four ARIAs and contained the worldwide smash "Catch My Disease," as heard on everything from TV shows Grey's Anatomy and Hidden Palms to a massive Dell computer TV ad campaign.
"That song was like a fungal virus; it just kept growing and growing over two-and-a-half years," he says. "I wrote it at a time when I was looking very seriously at my music career and wondering if maybe I should try something else. It seemed like everyone had a cause - Bono with Africa, that sort of thing - and it became clear to me that what I could do was simply bring people joy through pop songs. I realized that people came to my shows for comfort and release, and I started to really believe that I had something to give them.
"It was," he concludes, "a classic instance of the right song at the right time."
Such an event has become a theme for Lee, not only on Ripe but also for his life in general. "It's all about timing," he says. "The longer I make music, the longer I exist, I see that everything is timing. I've ripened as a human being, and now I have a sense of readiness, that I can contribute something I don't see anyone else doing."
Lee is also readying himself for the completion of Ben Lee: Catch My Disease, a seven-years-in-the-making documentary by his friend Amiel Courtin-Wilson, "who's interviewed everyone I've ever known, played with, and slept with," he laughs. "It's quite jarring to let someone in like that, but the results should be pretty interesting."
Now based in Los Angeles, Lee still maintains an ever-widening group of friends and fans around the globe, a sure testament to the universal appeal of his music.
"I hope this album opens people's hearts," he says. "I don't push a particular thing to believe in or political point of view; I'm interested in helping people discover their own feelings. I hope that Ripe touches people and gives them hope and courage."
"Personally, of course, I hope it sells a truckload of copies and makes me the international pop superstar I was destined to be," he laughs.
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