Ben Folds - What Matters Most (Deluxe) (2023)

After a hit Ben Folds Five reunion album in 2012 and a companion live LP the next year, Ben Folds seemed to seek routes away from, or merely adjacent to, his trademark piano pop/rock. He composed a piano concerto that accompanied pop songs backed by a chamber ensemble on 2015's So There, recorded a live album with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, took a position as artistic advisor for the National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center, worked as a producer, published a memoir, started a podcast about the creative process, and found work as an actor on Amazon Prime's The Wilds before finally making his return to piano pop in 2022 with a soundtrack theme ("It's the Small Things, Charlie Brown"). Arriving a year later, What Matters Most is his first nonclassical solo album since 2008's Way to Normal. Largely provoked by current events, What Matters Most offers Folds' typical mix of earnest and sardonic songs, but with perhaps a little more indignation behind them. Recorded in East Nashville with producer Joe Pisapia (Guster), its many guests include singers Dodie and Ruby Amanfu, indie folk duo Tall Heights, and a list of horn and string players, although these are pop-band songs, only some of which are fleshed out. Among the more sincere entries here is the confrontational piano waltz "Fragile," which calls out hypocrisy ("Something so fragile about you/It's how you get away with what you do") and features one of the string arrangements by Rob Moose. Also in that category are more triplet-metered tracks such as "Clouds with Ellipses," which features animated piano arpeggiation and a "choir of Dodies" as part of its graceful arrangement, and a wistful title track that notes, "In these days of overwhelming change, I just want to know what I want." In sharp contrast to these are playful takedowns including the hip-hop-tinged "Exhausting Lover" ("Every kiss is a jam band solo/Never gonna say YOLO no mo'") and the faux-ode "Kristine from the 7th Grade," about alienating social media posts. Elsewhere, the theatrical harmony vocal-keyboard ditty "But Wait, There's More" strikes a tonal balance with its reflections on the time's relentless sociopolitical turmoil ("Pray that there's a bottom somewhere in sight/Brothers and sisters hold tight"). While this mix of vulnerability, anxiety, and resentment can feel uneven, Folds' melodies are engaging as ever, and he finds balance again on highlights like "Moments" (featuring Tall Heights) and the pandemic-isolation-themed "Winslow Gardens." What Matters Most is also tied together with a consistent underlying sense of dread. With its brushed snare, simmering piano, and tender vocal delivery, the elegant "Moments" closes the album with a call for optimism, even in absence of reason.