Much-hyped teen pop wonder beats the sophomore slump - on his third album

Alternative Press - February 1999
BEN LEE Breathing Tornados
[4 out of 5 - "Enthusiastically Endorsed"]

By Marc Hawthorne

To anyone who was following the career paths of Ben Lee and Claire Danes, the teenage wunderkinds’ romantic interest in each other seemed appropriate. Both initially gained attention at the onset of puberty for their youthful angst and wide-eyed naiveté (Danes with the short-lived teen drama My So-Called Life; Lee with the fuzz-pop outfit Noise Addict), but before anyone had time to appreciate the two’s sharp-kid adolescent behavior, Lee and Danes began trying to act like the mature, sophisticated adults that they weren’t. During TV talk-show interviews promoting her budding film interests, Danes came off as cheesy and contrived, while Lee’s second solo release, 1997’s Something To Remember Me By, found the barely legal Australian failing miserably at an attempt to be taken seriously as a well-worn folk-pop singer-songwriter.

Fortunately, Lee has changed his tune on album No. 3, Breathing Tornados. Instead of trying to squeeze out an album’s worth of songs from his acoustic guitar, Lee has turned most of his attention to keyboards, samplers and drum machines, and displayed his affection for pop music. And, surprisingly enough - given the fact that until now Lee hasn’t seemed that interested in electronics - Breathing Tornados is the best collection of music Lee’s ever recorded. His maturity isn’t being faked this time - he really has taken his music and lyrics to a new level, assuring himself a future that even he wasn’t so sure existed (see "Household Name" from Remember Me for details).

Produced by Ed Buller (known for his work with Suede and Pulp) and featuring a handful of name-drop-quality guests (including Harmony Korine, Petra Haden, Sean Lennon and Donovan Leitch), Breathing Tornados swirls with dreamy electro-pop and anthemic sing-along choruses, giving Lee every reason to sing as passionately as he does on tracks like the Electronic-esque "Nothing Much Happens" and the bouncing epic "Tornados." Okay, so maybe I was wrong - Ben Lee really is getting better with age.