culture
Sound Advice: Dirty Laundry, by Ben Stevenson
The new EP from the Toronto-based singer and songwriter is dreamy, minimalistic, and darkly experimental.
Originally from Edmonton and now based in Toronto, singer and songwriter Ben Stevenson mines his love for the electro-R&B sounds of artists such as Frank Ocean and Miguel for this chilled-out project.
With Dirty Laundry, it’s clear that Stevenson is in a darkly experimental mode, as he toys with the musical tropes of contemporary R&B, which have in recent years seen artists play with dreamy and minimalistic electronic sounds. The album features production by Happy Perez—who has, in fact, worked with Frank Ocean and Miguel—and on it, Stevenson manages to craft an R&B-meets-pop sound that reveals a reverence for the artists that inspire him, but does not copy them.
At seven tracks, the Dirty Laundry EP is the ideal length. Long enough for soft, moody cuts like “Love Could Be” and “Girls Like You” to grab your attention, but short enough that the record doesn’t overstay its welcome.