BEN KWELLER Changing Horses (2009 UK 10-track CD album [all-analogue recording, tracked to 2" tape, with limited overdubs.] - Over the course of his three studio albums, Ben Kweller has become known as a top-shelf purveyor of the powerhouse pop song. The arsenal of effortless melodies, surging refrains and agile harmonies he employs could come only from a kid raised on a steady diet of the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Hollies. But on his new album, a straight-up country charmer entitled 'Changing Horses', the 27-year-old Greenville, TX, native has gone back to his roots, saying 'Some of the first songs I wrote as a kid, before I got into punk rock and underground bands, were country songs.' 'Changing Horses' [whose title refers not only to taking on a new musical genre, but also to relocating his family to Austin, TX] reflects that period. For Kweller, who was influenced at a young age by the records his father's high-school buddy Nils Lofgren made with Neil Young & Bruce Springsteen, releasing a country album is the realisation of a long-held goal. We recorded it in 11 days, but 'Changing Horses' is 13 years in the making.)