Ben Lovett’s Debut Album Will Drop Mid-March

Ben Lovett is the elusive and talented man behind a long list of film scores and musical projects. In March he will unveil Highway Collection, a new album spanning an all-star carnival of contributing musicians, film directors, kids, choirs and painters.

According to Lovett, his nomadic and exploratory lifestyle has compelled him to create an album of intense variety, each song crafted “from a different part of another life, into a diverse philosophy of sound deep enough to sink a ship.” From a release:

On Highway Collection you find a driving pulse and child-like innocence akin to The Shins, layered with zany and dreamy backing vocals a la The Flaming Lips, floating above the rolling drumbeats of a modernized Strawberry Fields-era Beatles, all led by a constantly evolving voice with an eloquent message of mature and heartfelt universality.

The eclectic cast of contributing musicians include members of The Avett Brothers, The Mars Volta, and Cursive, as well as additions by Money Mark, Electric Owls, Ponderosa and appearances by talents involved in projects as diverse as the Eels and Spiritualized to Against Me, The Zac Brown Band and the Sonos Quartet.

Lovett has composed original scores for 12 films, including Last Goodbye, starring Faye Dunaway; the Sundance critically acclaimed The Signal, in 2007; and was awarded Best Score in the 2009 Brooklyn International Film Festival for his work in The Last Lullaby.

You can download the single, “The Fear,” here.