“CREATURES” by Ben Heyworth

Ben Heyworth returns with Creatures, a three-track EP that marks not only a creative revival but a personal reckoning. After years away from releasing music under his own name, Heyworth strips things back while leaning into something new: a sound that blends acoustic intimacy with lyrical abstraction, pulling from his life in Manchester and wrapping it in what he calls “urban folk.” Recorded at the iconic Blueprint Studios—also home to Elbow—Creatures feels both grounded and slightly otherworldly, tethered to real people and places but glimpsing something stranger just beneath the surface. The EP opens with “Narrowboat,” a graceful meditation on mortality and memory, set along the canals of Manchester. It’s uncorks the collection raise the standadard higher musically, but the beauty lies in the details—ethereal guitar work, tight harmonies, and Heyworth’s gentle voice rising and falling like the tide.

The song captures the rhythms of life lived slowly, where days unfold with both comfort and quiet melancholy. There’s a late-afternoon wistfulness in its tone, a yearning for permanence in an impermanent world. “Image of Roads” shifts both sonically and conceptually. With a more rhythmic, forward-moving structure, it evokes a fictional American road trip—or perhaps the illusion of one. Here, Heyworth plays with perspective, hinting that what seems like a classic escape may be little more than a digital rendering, a metaphor for longing that never quite materializes. The track’s clever, slightly disorienting lyrics and restless energy suggest a tension between movement and stasis, truth and simulation.

Then comes the standout: “Creature Double Feature,” a surrealist carnival of characters and self-examination. Musically, it leans into a an undeniable groove, but its real impact is in its daring poeticism. A parade of strange archetypes—sailors, puppets, blue girls, Grebos—takes center stage, all reflected in a mirror that may or may not reveal the truth. The score haunts the listener long after the track ends. It’s a postmodern folk tale, humorous and unsettling, pointing to our fractured modern identities. Creatures is a small collection with big questions. It’s introspective without being indulgent, experimental without losing touch with melody. Heyworth’s return is not just a continuation of earlier work—it’s an evolution. Equal parts charming and cerebral, Creatures invites listeners to look inward, question outward, and listen closely. There’s more than meets the ear.

Garcia Penned 🖊️