Benjamin Tod will release his new solo album Shooting Star next month. So far, the singer/songwriter has shared a pair of singles—“I Ain’t the Man” and “Satisfied with Your Love”—from the collection. Today, he gives a third peek behind the curtain with “One Last Time,” a collaboration with Sierra Ferrell.
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Shooting Star sees Tod presenting himself in a new light. Much of his back catalog, both solo and with Lost Dog Street Band, deals with misery, addiction, loss, and pain with brief glimpses of redemption. Now, though, the singer/songwriter has grown tired of singing about the man he used to be. More than a new album, it seems that Shooting Star will serve as the beginning of a new chapter of his solo career.
That turning of the page seems most evident in the lines of “One Last Time.” More specifically, the line from the chorus, I can’t be defeated / As long as I’m needed / I live on the hope in your eyes. “That line sums up a lot of the emotion tied together in this song,” Tod shared. “It conveys that failure is not an option because there is a higher duty in order and states clearly what the reward is,” he added.
Sonically, “One Last Time” sees Tod and Sierra Ferrell slipping into a vintage-feeling lilting waltz. Pedal steel, fiddle, and ethereal backup singers bolster the already powerful voice of Tod and Ferrell. Moreover, the combination of their voices creates the feeling of a couple who have walked a long road and have found life-sustaining hope in one another’s eyes. The end result is nothing short of beautiful.
Benjamin Tod on Shooting Star
Some may see Shooting Star as a huge shift in sound for Benjamin Tod. He, however, sees the album as a homecoming of sorts. A Nashville native, he grew up surrounded by classic country music. “That sound was always on the tip of my tongue but it wasn’t until about five or six years ago when I started getting back to my roots, really listening to country again, and enjoying honky tonk,” Tod said in an interview with American Songwriter earlier this year.
Shooting Star hits streaming platforms and record store shelves on October 18 via Thirty Tigers.
Featured Image by Starla Groves
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