CD Review: Benny Walker - Chosen Line

(Image credit: supplied by label)

BENNY WALKER
Chosen Line
INDEPENDENT

On his smoky and raw – yet at all turns inescapably groovy – third album, Benny Walker embraces the guitar as a tool to reckon with, affirm and (most importantly) conjure emotions.

He dips into funk territory on the silky and upbeat “All Ya Gotta Do Is Call”, loose and jangly noodling carried along with a deep bassline and simmering keys; on “I Don’t Blame You”, where he pushes the subject to chase the fire in their heart, he digs deep into his own and emerges with a downright gnarly solo.

Most noteworthy is how much ground Walker covers in the 14 tight and tempreate cuts – from roaring blues and passionate soul to tender folk and rugged country, glimmers of pop and that aforementioned funky spark, we’re treated to a wealth of ups and downs, almost all of them immediately captivating.

Ellie Robinson is an Australian writer, editor and dog enthusiast with a keen ear for pop-rock and a keen tongue for actual Pop Rocks. Her bylines include music rag staples like NME, BLUNT, Mixdown and, of course, Australian Guitar (where she also serves as Editor-at-Large), but also less expected fare like TV Soap and Snowboarding Australia. Her go-to guitar is a Fender Player Tele, which, controversially, she only picked up after she'd joined the team at Australian Guitar. Before then, Ellie was a keyboardist – thankfully, the AG crew helped her see the light…

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