Trace Mountains
Dean Engle*When the pandemic arrived just a few months after Dave Benton released his last album as Trace Mountains, the singer-songwriter decided to turn the terrible timing into a creative opportunity.
“It was certainly disappointing to not be able to tour in support of Lost in the Country,” Benton tells Rolling Stone. “But at the same time I love just jumping immediately back into the process of making a record…I feel like I hit a groove with it so much [more easily] because I had no downtime or break from writing songs.”
Over the course of 2020, Benton dove deep into the writing process for House of Confusion, the upcoming third Trace Mountains album, out October 22nd on Lame-O Records. The record, as the former LVL-UP singer-guitarist describes it, is a more questioning, inward-looking collection of songs, compared to the rock & roll optimism of Lost in the Country.
“In hindsight, I really think of that album as my mission statement,” Benton says of his critically acclaimed second album. “House of Confusion feels like it’s taking a harder look at life and getting into the nitty-gritty a little more.”
Case in point: “America,” the album’s disco-rock-inspired lead single, which Benton began writing as he finished up Lost in the Country. “It was just a song about hating my job and my life,” Benton, who was laid off by his day job during the pandemic, says of an early version of the tune.
But as the Kingston, New York-based musician wrote the rest of House of Confusion, “America” eventually came into focus: “I decided I’d stick with this theme about the false American Dream but put it in the context of a road song,” he says. “The idea is that the narrator has this disappointing secret about America that he is reluctant to share with his fellow passengers.”
After beginning with the acoustic meditation “Seen It Coming,” Benton’s new record proceeds with 10 more rootsy pedal steel country-rockers and breezy ballads about the proverbial and literal open road.
“The only way I can describe the feeling is like there’s a storm on the horizon,” Benton says of “Seen It Coming.” “That’s the kind of image that represents the whole album for me: It’s a road album, a journey. There are no answers, only questions.”
House of Confusion, Trace Mountain’s third LP, will be released on October 22nd.
NEWS
Lola Young has joined forces with Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) to release a new T shirt for the charity’s Lifelines collection.
The shirt supports CALM’s suicide prevention work, with proceeds helping to fund vital resources such as its helpline and CALMzone mental health app.
CALM introduced the Lifelines range last year, with Fontaines D.C., Blossoms and Inhaler also contributing their own designs to the collection.
Young’s design includes the words, “There’s a flicker of light. There’s always morning after the night”, taken from her track ‘Flicker Of Light’.
“I wrote this song about realising there is hope. I have often felt like there isn’t, but there is always a reason to keep going,” Young said. “That’s even when you don’t want to get out of bed, you do, and that is amazing, and you’re still here, and you’re still alive, and if anything, that’s something to be proud of.”
CALM CEO Simon Gunning also shared his appreciation for the collaboration, saying: “We couldn’t be more grateful to Lola for supporting ‘Lifelines’ and showing just how powerful music can be as a force for good.”
Priced at £30, the T shirts come in both standard and boxy fits and are available to purchase here.
Young has regularly spoken about her experiences with mental health. She returned to performing earlier this year after calling off her 2025 tour because of exhaustion. The decision followed her collapse during a performance in New York City. During her time away, she later discussed receiving support for addiction and attending AA meetings as part of her recovery.
In an interview with NME in May, Young explained that she believes “all healing journeys are never ending”, although she is now “definitely in a much better place”. She also said she feels “excited and ready to perform and to release music”.
Reflecting on the encouragement she received after publicly discussing those challenges, Young said: “My fans inspire me in the same way I hope to inspire them. I feel like I’ve never tried to be especially honest… it just comes very naturally to me.”
“I don’t really have any other choice but to be honest, so if people connect to that, and that’s amazing.”
Several musicians have also applauded the ‘Messy’ singer for honestly addressing the pressure placed on touring performers. Lily Allen said she was “in awe” of the BRIT and Grammy winner, while Victoria Canal credited Young with bringing greater attention to the damaging impact demanding tour schedules can have on artists’ mental wellbeing.
When NME asked whether musicians were beginning to establish firmer boundaries around their health, Young replied: “I never intended it to start a movement, but I hope that it does in some way.”
