For decades, BEN ARNOLD has been creating his own version of amplified American roots music, broadcasting that sound from venues across America and Europe. He turns a new page with XI, a roots-rock record that finds the road warrior bridging the gap between personal insights and universal statements. Intimate one minute and anthemic the next, XI highlights just how wide-ranging Arnold’s songwriting has become over the past quarter-century.
By the 2020s, he’d already contributed to more than 30 albums. When the Covid-19 pandemic brought everyday life to a halt, though, Arnold found himself stuck at home, unable to continue collaborating with others. Looking to make sense of an unsteady world, he dug into his craft — and into himself.
Ever the traveler, Arnold headed to Los Angeles once restrictions lifted. There, he reunited with producer Shane Smith (his musical partner in the band Pistol For Ringo, as well as engineer of Los Lobos‘ acclaimed record Tin Can Trust) while simultaneously working on the East Coast with Barrie Maguire (The Wallflowers, Natalie Merchant, and more). What began as a casual recording session at Hetson Sound, the SoCal studio owned by Circle Jerks guitarist Greg Hetson, quickly turned into something more substantial, with Arnold assembling a band of longtime friends and collaborators from multiple different genres. Others contributed to the sessions remotely — including Pete Thomas, longtime drummer for Elvis Costello and the Attractions, who tracked songs like „Catch The Lightning,“ „Anywhere But Here,“ and „Peace, Love & Understanding“ (which found him warmly commenting, „I love this song! You know I played on the first one!?“) from home. Back in Philadelphia, Ben and Maguire recorded songs like the gorgeously heartbreaking „My America“ in a series of fast, inspiring takes, breathing new life into Arnold’s timeless influences.
Arnold certainly owns it with XI. The album reaffirms his spot in the long lineage of hard-touring songwriters who blur the lines dividing musical traditions, flying somewhere below the mainstream and high above the American underground, swirling together their own combination of folk, blues, soul, rock & roll, and classic pop. He isn’t reinventing the wheel; instead, he’s redefining the sound that kickstarted his career during the early 1990s, sharpening his songwriting with each release. In an industry that’s forever changing, he’s remained a constant force… and with XI, Ben Arnold reminds us that there’s strength in numbers.
