Album Review: Love Is the Great Rebellion by Ben Lee

Aussie expatriate and current L.A. resident Ben Lee has never taken a predicable path. And et, that in itself is part of his charm. Beginning with his stint with the lo-fi teen band Noise Addict, he’s made it a point to stir irreverence and insurgency in equal measure. The group’s first single ….

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This year marks the 20th since Ben Lee's first album, and during that time, he has constantly looked forward and back. In 2005, he released his fan favourite, Awake is the New Sleep, inspired by a trip to India that left him with the message that he would succeed if he put joy into his music.Ben Lee then went out of his musical comfort zone in his 2011 concept album, Deeper Into Dream, and 2013 saw the release of his experimental album, Ayahuasca: Welcome to the Work. Now, he's looking back with Love is the Great Rebellion, which sounds like a continuation of his successful 2005 album, both of which were produced by Brad Wood.

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Two decades deep into his recording career, Ben Lee is comfortable in his skin -- comfortable enough to indulge in a bit of unrepentant positivity on Love Is the Great Rebellion, his tenth solo album. Thanks in part to Brad Wood's gleaming production -- he previously helmed Lee's 2009 album The Rebirth of Venus -- Love Is the Great Rebellion is big, bright, and cheerful, but much of its relentless optimism is due to none other than the singer/songwriter himself, who is eager to spread good vibes wherever his songs are sung. Although he can dip into sheer hippie-dippiness -- "Happiness" is a worthy sequel to the worst of Donovan, so it's fitting Lee's father-in-law deigns to make a cameo here, and the children's choir of "I'm Changing My Mind" wasn't the best of ideas -- generally the polished punch of Wood's work pushes Love Is the Great Rebellion into sunny positive pop, the kind of album that can double as motivation or pleasing background music for the office.

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