We’ve featured the music of Brooklyn-based Ben Seretan a number of times here at Various Small Flames, amazed by the energy and atmosphere of his brand of what we’ve labelled “euphoric electrified gospel drone.” His self-titled debut served as the perfect introduction, an album at once willing to overwhelm your senses and remain humane and personal, all dressed in an unerring positivity. As we wrote in our review, the record “tries to remind us why Bad Things are bad in the first place by holding aloft what is good,” essentially forming a near-religious devotion to optimism and kindness.
After a few side projects, last year saw Seretan return with a new album, Bowl of Plums. Inspired by his own life, and written in an array of American locales, the record is a collage of ideas and themes, a photo album from Seretan’s recent experiences that collects the most beautiful and touching moments into a fine arrangement. In keeping with the album’s mosaic form, Seretan is now making videos for various singles from the release, and we’re delighted to share the offering for ‘I Like Your Size’.
The closing track of Bowl of Plums, ‘I Like Your Size’ is an intimate acoustic strum, textured with tape hiss and tinged with love. Eventually, Seretan’s vocals and guitar are joined by more luscious backing, forming a warm embrace that remains even until the close, steady and warm.
“You told me
And I heard you
I want you
Come in from the cold, my boy
I want you and I like your size”
Check out the video below, directed by Stephen Straub, and aided by Harrison Asen and Sabrina Resnick. As way of some context, Seretan describes the concept for the video as “shotgunning beers in slow motion as a metaphor for living life well.”
Bowl of Plums, and the entirety of Ben Seretan’s back catalogue, is available now via Bandcamp. In addition, and rather excitingly, Seretan this year also put out a book, Past the Breakers, through Adult Punk. Collecting journals, poems, and ephemera from his solo tour through Italy (which came about after illegal downloading saw his self-titled album take off in the country), the book is described as “an elegant and candid document of what it is to be alone, surrounded by people.” The physical copies are lovely, plus there’s an audiobook version on Bandcamp complete with ambient backing.
