Twelve albums in, Ben Reel hasn’t lost a step. ‘Spirit’s Not Broken’, out now via Dutch label Mars Music Group, is the latest chapter from one of Ireland’s most tireless and underrated voices, and it hits with the kind of range and conviction that only comes from 35-plus years of doing this for real.
Focus track “Better Be Better” opens the conversation with pounding drums, big guitars, and a raw emotional core lifted straight from the best of 1960s rock. The story is a desperate plea inside a crumbling relationship, “It better be better than the year before or I’m walking out that door,” and the nod to The Beatles is unmistakable. It’s a strong, immediate song that earns every second of its intensity.
The album moves through raw rock and into soulful, R&B-infused territory, drawing comparisons to Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Van Morrison, and Sting. Reel has always worked in that tradition without being beholden to it, and ‘Spirit’s Not Broken’ finds him at his most focused. His message is direct: in a world full of noise and conflict, love and human connection are what hold. It doesn’t feel like a slogan when the music backs it up this completely.
Reel’s track record makes the case. He recorded ‘The Nashville Calling’ (2020) with Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack, featuring E Street Band’s Garry W. Tallent, and that record hit No. 1 on the Euro Americana Chart. He’s played the Bluebird Café, toured the US and Europe extensively, and shared stages with Jools Holland, The Cranberries, and Nanci Griffith. This is an artist with deep roots and a wide reach.