Lonely Avenue may seem like the unlikeliest of collaborations, but it undoubtedly makes sense. On his seventh full-length album, Ben Folds teams up with critically acclaimed author Nick Hornby to create an album for which Hornby wrote the lyrics in their entirety and Folds composed all of the music. While this collaboration may have some listeners scratching their heads, it makes complete sense to have a scholar in the art of writing and a well established popular musician come together to create a masterpiece.
The lyrics written by Hornby are very similar in topic to subjects Folds has written about in the past. Themes such as love, heartbreak and discouragement, which have long been a staple of Folds' songwriting, are just as present in Hornby's lyrical contributions. Another similarity that these two collaborators share is that they like to curse--and curse a lot--as evidenced by the opening track ""A Working Day"" in which Folds sings, ""Everything I write is shit.""
While fans of Folds' classic piano sound might be turned off by the synthesizer-based rock of the opening track, they can take comfort in the second track, ""Picture Window."" On this song, Folds is clearly in his element with his piano and a few stringed instruments.
Folds and Hornby first worked together to write a song for William Shatner's 2004 album, Has Been. Though Has Been was far from stellar, it can at least take credit for connecting these two artists whose relationship stemmed from there and ultimately led to Lonely Avenue. With Folds living in the States and Hornby living in the U.K., most of their communication and collaboration was through e-mail. Hornby sent all his lyrics through the Internet, leaving Folds with the reins to write adequate musical accompaniment to his works.
For the most part, this unconventional form of songwriting is extremely successful, but there are some definite exceptions. While ""Claire's Ninth"" is a forgettable love song, ""Levi Johnston's Blues"" and ""Password"" find Folds experimenting with different styles—unfortunately, it just doesn't work. With synthesizers and abstract lyrical delivery, these songs just sound forced and contrary to Folds' style.
On ""Saskia Hamilton,"" however, Folds' experimentation with synthetic instrumentation works to his advantage. This well-written rock song combines Hornby's literary skills with Folds' soothing voice as Folds sings, ""Her passport alone is great poetry.""
Lonely Avenue concludes with something Folds has perfected: the love song. On ""Belinda,"" Hornby's storyteller-like lyrics really flourish as he depicts a man who lets the girl of his dreams escape. Listeners will be hard pressed not to feel a little emotional as Folds sings, ""Belinda / I love you / Don't leave me / I need you.""
With Lonely Avenue, Folds has yet again produced an album that will please his loyal fan base. And yet, it's not quite an instant classic. Folds and Hornby have fused two methods of expression that go hand in hand and the end result is a handful of great songs—and a few that need to be tweaked. If these two masterminds could come together on another album and really fine tune it, one can only imagine the kind of astounding music that could be made.
