The War On Drugs keyboardist will release two double albums on the same day, both rooted in piano and classical counterpoint before moving onto his band rig.
The War On Drugs keyboardist Robbie Bennett will release two double albums on the same day. Steloken and Circulation arrive Dec. 11 via American Dreams, both following his 2020 debut Permanent World.
Two tracks are out now: “Sister,” from Steloken, and “The Light On Your Face,” from Circulation. Both records began with piano and classical counterpoint before developing on the keyboard setup Bennett uses with his other band, an arsenal that includes an Oberheim OB-X8, a Fender Rhodes, and a Soma Terra, which he describes as a polyphonic microtonal synthesizer with a gyroscope and pressure-sensitive sensors.
That inventory reads less like gear trivia than a statement of method. Bennett has said he wants the music to feel like walking through an unfamiliar place you want to keep exploring, never circling back to where you started. It’s a fair description of a project built on microtonal hardware and contrapuntal writing, where the tuning itself works against the familiar.
His main band has been quiet on the release front since 2021’s I Don’t Live Here Anymore, and there is no word yet on what follows it. These two records stand on their own: a keyboard player stepping out from behind someone else’s songs, twice over, at once.
Join the Club
Like this story? You’ll love our monthly newsletter.
Thank you for subscribing to the newsletter.
Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later.
ROMBO Editorial Staff
The collective voice behind ROMBO Magazine’s news, reviews, features, and cultural coverage.
