Ben Glaros website

The first time I listened to Ben Glaros' album Lovesong Roulette, I was driving home from a friend's house and barely paying attention to the stereo. Not two minutes into the disc, I found myself turning up the volume and steering my car off course, navigating toward the nearest lake and driving around it to give myself more time for uninterrupted listening. The subtle tone of Glaros' voice and the subdued swoops of string instruments and delayed electric guitars was mesmerizing, and his songs served as the perfect accompaniment to driving around Lake of the Isles late at night, watching the lights from the houses move in reflections across the water as his heartbroken, intimate folk music filled up my empty car.

It's hard not to get lost in the lyrics and melodies on Glaros' album. His soft voice commands attention, begging comparisons to Nick Drake and a less nasally Neil Young, and Glaros especially shines when the instrumentation is stripped down to almost nothing, his voice left to commingle with the quiet hum of an electric guitar. Guest musicians include a few familiar faces from the experimental jazz scene: versatile cellist Jacqueline Ferrier-Ultan and upright bass player Brian Roessler (both of Fantastic Merlins and Roessler of Electropolis), and Jacqueline's husband Michael Ferrier co-produced the record with Glaros to create a masterful mix of ambient sounds and acoustic guitar-based folk.

Ben Glaros - Photo by Angel Wagner

The narrative aspect of Lovesong Roulette makes the cover of Tom Petty's “Climb That Hill” near the end of the album feel out of place at first, as it is decidedly less confessional and more anthemic. But after a repeated listen the song adds a necessary reminder of hope at the end of a tale of failed love, and it leads appropriately into a more low-key retake of the opening track, “Coffee Would Be Great.” Regardless of how painful a broken heart can be, Glaros reminds us, there's always another chance to start fresh. “I've got to get up and climb that hill again,” Glaros proclaims, and he's simultaneously channeling Petty and Neil Young and the spirit of a thousand unknown basement songwriters, giving us the courage to suck it up and start the love game and album over again from the beginning.

Listen to "Wrong" from Lovesong Roulette

UP NEXT: Ben Glaros plays a CD release show for Lovesong Roulette at the Cedar Cultural Center this Saturday, Dec. 1 with Slim Dunlap opening. 8 p.m. $15. All Ages.