On May 24, 2009, musician, producer and multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett was found dead in his Urbana apartment from an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl. Bennett had first come to CU as a student of secondary education, mathematics and political studies. He played in several local bands before joining the power pop group Titanic Love Affair, and after TLA’s breakup Bennett eventually left Champaign to join Chicago-based band Wilco in 1994. Bennett had returned to Champaign-Urbana in 2007, and his friends said he seemed to be entering a calmer phase of life-working toward an online masters degree at UIUC, enjoying the relaxation of Urbana, and recording in Pieholden Suite Sound, the studio Bennett and manager Matt DeWine built from the ground up.
For a more detailed look at Pieholden Suite Sound, check out Joel Gillespie’s article on the studio and Bennett’s legacy.
Bennett was a part of this community in ways I cannot begin to feel. I came into CU as Bennett was passing out of it. I knew him as a musician only, and mostly through Wilco. Bennett recorded Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with the band before tensions caused frontman Jeff Tweedy to ask Bennett to leave the group.
Summerteeth was, from the first listen, an album I could sink into. Its vivid lyricism (“The ashtray says you were up all night” is still one of the greatest opening lines in the last fifteen years), its raw emotionality, its exuberance and its dark optimism all come together to create an album which gets better with time. Likewise, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is a brilliant balance of moods and sounds that somehow allows “Radio Cure” and “Heavy Metal Drummer” to coexist in harmony. It’s fair to say that Wilco has never been the same since Bennett’s departure. Whether it was Bennett himself or the hyper-focused collaboration between Bennett and Tweedy that made Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot what they are is unimportant. What’s important is the brilliant music that resulted. Bennett brought extensive musical skills and passion to Wilco, and the two albums to which he contributed are arguably the band’s best.
Although I’ve spent countless hours with Bennett’s Wilco contributions, I am certainly a latecomer to Bennett’s solo work. After parting with Wilco in 2001, Bennett released five solo albums, and at the time of his death he was working on his sixth. Bennett had originally slated the album for an October 2008 release, but put it on hold to release his fifth and most stripped-down album, Whatever Happened I Apologize.
At the time of his death, he left his sixth album nearly finished. Bennett’s friends and family made the decision to release that album as Bennett had planned, following the pile of notes Bennett left in attempt to create the album he would have wanted. Last week, Kicking at the Perfumed Air was formally released. The album has been available for a free download since May 24th at JayBennett.org, where listeners can donate an amount of their choice to the newly created Jay Bennett Foundation, “an organization supporting music and education.”
Kicking at the Perfumed Air is my first foray into Bennett as a solo artist, and to me the album feels as personal as if Bennett had finished it himself. For me, the highlights of the album are the playful, finger-picking songs. Opener “Second Last Call” barrels in like a barroom sing-along, with the loose layering of hand-plucked strings (I think I even hear some banjo!). “Invitation,” while more toned-down, is still a toe-tapping, rhythmic tune, scratched up by Bennett’s husky voice.
Most revealing, however, are the still moments. In “M Plates,” Bennett shamelessly growls over tinkling guitars, his vocals sliding like charred logs through a quiet stream. With its bare guitar notes, patient pace, and Bennett’s gentle, nearly pained vocals, “Footprints” offers the most intimate look at Bennett as a songwriter, as he asks “Passion or insanity? Which made you who you are?”
The brighter, more playful songs are a welcome break from the heaviness of Bennett’s acoustic whispers. “Cartoon Physics” is perhaps my favorite — a warm, upward swing of light piano, and a hint of hope that creeps into Bennett’s voice despite the finality of his words: “It’s over, it’s all over.”
While I can’t say Kicking at the Perfumed Air is an album I would have picked up on my own, it’s a peaceful companion for a quiet moment, and a spirited one whenever levity is called for. It feels like the Jay Bennett I’m told about — a man making peace with his anxiety and embracing the good in life.
Bennett’s spirit and vivacity are apparent on his myspace blog, where he was full of enthusiasm for the newly formed lines of communication between him and his fans. “I genuinely appreciate all of the interest you have all shown in, and concern you have all shown for my music, my multiple projects, my studio, and just plain ole ME,” Bennett wrote. “And I love checking in every day (on most days, multiple times, for extended periods), and to my amazement, seeing that you are STILL listening to my streaming material, and I marvel each day at the prospect of getting the immediate satisfaction of knowing that people still like and support what I am trying accomplish with my music.”
The Jay Bennett Foundation has plans to continue to release Bennett’s work in the upcoming months, as they catalog the many songs and demos he left behind, and I’m sure years from now Bennett’s fans will still be listening, still supporting all he accomplished.