2017 saw Ben Ruegg start another project, Manon Peak, where he brought in other guests and musicians such as Sio Andrews. Daniella Kriek, Royce Dawson, and Sophie Hamer. When Ben sent this to me it actually filled in a missing piece, as the opening number is “Isolation”, which is one of the highlights of the Channeled live set, and I could not understand why they had not recorded it, but now I know! The album commences with that track, with guitars riffing in both ears, gentle cymbals, then the kick drum comes in with yet more guitars and bass and then we are off on a wild ride. Alternative rock rarely gets much better than this, with plenty of dynamics and all the guitars disappearing at one point so we can concentrate on the voice with just the rhythm section, and gradually it builds into a dramatic belter. This song has long been a favourite of mine, and I must admit to playing this repeatedly, which is not a great thing to do as it prevented me from getting into the rest of the album.
“I Figured” shows just what Split Enz would have sounded like if they were around today and had used distortion even more, a jangly, jagged, alternative pop rock number with a killer chorus. The album title is certainly apt, as each song feels like it has been given close attention and that Ben knows exactly what he wants to achieve with it. The choruses are killer, and while bands like The Feelers are an obvious reference, Ben is very much his own man and has an incredible knack with arrangements and words, delivering solid hooks throughout. Whereas his 2009 solo album felt somewhat disconnected at times, this has a great diversity within it, yet somehow it all feels related, and even when he goes into totally different areas such as the more poppy “Build It Up”, it still feels very much part of the album even though it contains far more keyboards and even some rapping.

This is a great find, and in many ways is the missing link in the Channeled story, as while this is a strong album full of great songs, it shows that at times he was still not convinced exactly what direction he wanted to go in. However, the result is an album is an alternative pop rock album which is sheer fun throughout.

Rating: 8/10

Track list:
1. Isolation
2. I Figured
3. Reverse
4. Into the Wild
5. Possible
6. Build It Up
7. A Song for You
8. Focused, Pt. 1
9. Time to Think
10. Young Adult
11. Focused, Pt. 2
12. The Explorer