We have a confirmation, folks! Our prediction that Ben Barnes would be announcing the release of his own music on his birthday has come true.
For months, fans have been speculating that Ben has been working on an album. If you’ve been following Ben Barnes closely, and watching all his cover videos on his Instagram, it’s easy to think that he’s been working on this for the last year or two. What really cemented the speculation was his Instagram post on August 16th, which clearly told us music was coming.
To celebrate his 40th birthday, Ben took to Twitter and Instagram to share the exciting news that he would be releasing his first album titled ‘Songs For You’ this fall.
“They say life begins at 40… well, not mine.
I am 14,609 days old today and I am celebrating every one of them. I have spent most of them pursuing dreams, surrounding myself with people I love and supported by all of you… and I know just how incredibly lucky that makes me.
One of my biggest unfulfilled dreams has been to release my own music. Music has been my passion my whole life and after a few false starts 20 years ago, I decided not to pursue it as a career. But today, I am realizing that ambition and announcing the release of my own songs.
I have wanted to create something more personal and intimate, to offer up something joyful, honest, soulful and passionate; I hope that you find some of this on my EP.
‘Songs For You’ will be released on October 15th and the first single, ‘11:11’ is available for pre-order now!
As you can probably tell, I’m beyond excited to share all this with you. This is a special moment for me. The experience of the past year and a half has offered a fresh perspective to us all and has certainly helped me understand what kind of man I want to be for the next 40 years… and it’s not one who is prepared to let his dreams just be dreams.”
‘Your heart knows the way, run in that direction’ – Rumi
❤️ #music #newmusic #dreams #thisis40
📸: @jonnymarlow
This is some of the best news ever for us fans, and we’ve been waiting a long time for this moment. We already know Ben is a great actor (see The Punisher & Shadow and Bone) and now we get to witness him fulfill his dream of releasing his own music. We’ve told you many times before what a challenge it was for Ben to start sharing his musical abilities with the world again, so we could not be any happier for him.
Here’s what he had to say about the meaning behind his album title.
We’re already falling in love just based on the meaning alone. ‘Songs For You’ which will have five tracks, was produced by John Alagia (Paul Simon, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Herbie Hancock) and Jesse Siebenberg (Ke$ha, Miranda Lambert, Neil Young, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald). The album was crafted by Ben on his piano at home and presented unedited and straight from the heart. The EP will be released October 15 via Label Logic, as distributed by Ingrooves.
Ben Barnes’s first track titled “11:11” is set to be released on September 17, and he gave us a sneak peek at the music video starring his Westworld costar Evan Rachel Wood. The video was directed by Shadow and Bone director Lee Toland Krieger. You can check out the teaser below.
Here’s Ben’s explanation of the meaning behind his song ’11:11’
“I’m fascinated in acting by the duality of people, and that we all have the capacity to feel everything and more than one emotion at a time. I feel that way too about my songs. Even if they seem to be about one thing, I’m interested in conflicting emotion and transitional feelings…the in-between. ‘11:11’ is about real love; the kind of love where you would give up all your wishes for the one you love to feel whole…even if it costs you, even if they can’t ‘be yours.’”
Are we swooning? Yes. Yes, we are.
Ben now has an official YouTube channel which you can subscribe to for all updates he’ll be sharing until the release. The teaser for ’11:11′ can be found there as well, and the song is available to pre-save now on all digital platforms.
We can’t wait to hear the full version of ‘11:11’ and we are beyond ready for his album.
Are you excited for Ben Barnes to release his EP? What are your thoughts on the teaser for ’11:11?’ Tell us in the comments!