Ben Lee has announced his 16th solo album, entitled This One’s for the Old Headz. The new album will be released on Friday September 20th via Weirder Together, Lee’s new label that he runs with his wife Ione Skye. To coincide with the album announcement, Lee has shared its lead single entitled ‘Heavy Metal’. A music video, directed by Nash Edgerton, has also been shared and can be viewed below.
“When I was 10 years old, I was obsessed with the Mötley Crüe home video Uncensored, and particularly a scene where Vince Neil rode down Sunset Boulevard in a jacuzzi built into the back of a limo with two hot girls,” Lee explains of the new single.
“It was a seminal moment for me, that imprinted deeply on my nascent ideas about success, sexuality and the music industry – as an impossibly iconic symbol of hedonism and rock’n’roll debauchery. In some ways, I’ve been chasing that moment my whole life – whatever that means.”
The accompanying music video sees Lee and Edgerton creating shot-for-shot remakes of key scenes from The Decline of Western Civilisation Part II: The Metal Years, the infamous 1988 documentary about the American metal scene. Lee plays metal stars such as Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Gene Simmons and even Vince Neil. “It’s the performance I’ve been waiting my whole life to give,” Lee joked.
Ben Lee – ‘Heavy Metal’
This One’s for the Old Headz was recorded over three days in Pasadena in Southern California. Justin Stanley served as the album’s producer, while Lee himself was joined in the studio by bassist Jason Narducy and drummer Jon Wurster – who serve as the long-standing rhythm section for both Bob Mould and The Mountain Goats, as well as doing so in Superchunk for several years until Wurster’s departure.
“Old Headz is a throwback to classic power-pop albums by artists like Teenage Fanclub, The Replacements, Big Star and The Lemonheads,” said Lee. “[It’s] a blistering, loud guitar and harmony-filled classic Ben Lee album that is sure to capture the hearts and imaginations of old heads and young heads alike.”
Lee’s last album, I’m Fun!, was released in August of 2022. It marked his first album of original material in over five years, following the 2019 covers album Quarter Century Classix. Singles included ‘Born For This Bullshit’, ‘Like This or Like That’ and the Georgia Maq-assisted ‘Arsehole’. Lee also released the album Golden State in June 2020, a collaboration between himself and How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor.
Further Reading
‘I Couldn’t Do a Bad Show If I Tried’: Ben Lee Is Leaning Into His Weirdness
Adam Green Tribute Album Announced feat. Regina Spektor, Father John Misty, The Lemonheads + More
Ben Lee Joins Fight Against Batshit QAnon Conspiracy: “I’ve Been In A Cult Before”
