"The Rascal from Alaska" is the new single by Dutch poet-songwriter Martijn Benders. It has a roar of icy humor and a narrative that can't be ignored. Martijn Benders creates a world in which Bukowski's wry laughter slides smoothly into the storytelling heart of Johnny Cash. It's a mix that is Timeworn and fresh, simultaneously poetry bundled in boots, the sort of storytelling that takes you by the collar and drags you into some chilly, fractious narrative.
To the chilled-out casual audiences, the song's hero is an Arctic anti-hero, the devil-may-care sprite, with the devil-may-care voice: a voice that makes those icy landscapes a playpen for wit, for wicked humor, for brilliant sleight-of-perspective. And what a character! It is not difficult to see Brooks, who must be floating across the snow, leaving a trail of laughter and wisdom in his wake. The music functions as a sled crashing through the living room, destroying walls of certainty and leaving only a shimmer of something beautifully vague.
Martijn's monologue conveys the absurd through the poetic and has perfected a deadpan delivery. Each line through these songs strikes you as a punchline baked into a story worth swallowing by flame and smoky campfire, or maybe in some dark, shadowy bar in the North where the chill bites just enough to make sure you're paying attention. The Hugh is not just played for laughs but a sly reflection on the absurdities of existence, a reminder that even in the most brutal circumstances, there remains an opening for shenanigans and significance.
As the first single from the forthcoming concept album, "The Rascal from Alaska,"establishes an audible venture into frozen absurdity, where imagination depicts reality, and storytelling is the only fact. For lovers of sensual language and surprisingly silly poetic humor, Martijn Benders' latest is a delight you won't be able to stop reading or listening to a riotous, frigid frolic you'll remember and adore.
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