Ben Howard came home. He played a sell out Eden Session on Saturday June 30, showcasing the new album Noonday Dream, some of which was written and recorded in Sawmills in Fowey.

Since he's been gone he's won awards, released a new album and toured the world. So how was he? Lisa Young went to find out.

He opened with Murmurations, a brooding confessional delivered in his higher octaves. After a winding, muted three minutes he sang "Why are we all so miserable? Oh, that's right, no-one ever comes back", syncopated drums snapped the grinding synth and the sun broke from behind the cloud. The audience spontaneous applaused and whooped, audibly relieved to hear Ben still winning the battle of light over dark.

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That said, he chose Towing the Line as his second song which is fairly downbeat. Its slow, nostalgic piano intro leading to a faintly Irish sounding harmony is blessed with the high synthesized guitar tones that mark his best work. The beautiful arpeggios illustrating soaring eagles on Nica Libres at Dusk have the same tone and effect, bringing an ethereal lightness that lifts us from the heavy grind of reality.

In previous albums India Bourne's vocals have done that. Her clear voice has contrasted with his, lending warmth and light. Having just had her first baby, she is absent from the new album and from the tour. Without her, Ben's music feels heavier.

As Someone in the Doorway opened there was a palpable sense of relief from the audience as the funky syncopated drums began with the Doors-esque trickle of piano uplift, while he sang that "he's not ready to die". It was pure Ben Howard in its sound. Despite her absence, India's cellos sang, there was more orchestral complexity, his melodic guitar was back and the soaring top notes too. This was the stuff of Eden. Light, thoughtful and eminently moving.

Half way through the session he played Small Things and it was electrifying. Strange, considering that when I first heard I Forget Where We Were, I found it compelling, exquisite but, ultimately, bleak. Yet it was this track that brought light to the set that so heavily featured his new album.

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The acoustics at Eden are phenomenal. The deep bass drums through your body and the high tones float up and out of the natural amphitheatre. Ben's music, written in coastal hideaways in Ireland, south west France and Cornwall, is born out of a landscape like ours and breathes in this setting.

I am sad that I didn't enjoy the session more but there's the problem. With a musician as gifted as Ben Howard is, with the scarcity that we get to see our west country boy, expectations are always going to be high. 

Musically he was completely on point and the band were faultless. Yet I felt disappointed. I feel like I'm being disingenuous when I ask whether he was here in spirit, as his songs bare his very soul, but he didn't speak for the first hour. Odd from the man who found a busker in Falmouth the day of his last gig at the Princess Pavillions and asked him to be the support act that same night.

Ben is the most gifted musician and writer, continually changing as he explores avenues of expression. This Eden session was a departure from his previous one but it's not the arrival. Come back again soon, Ben, and tell us what you've found since we last saw you.

*****

Were you at the session? What did you think? Have you got photos? Share below!