After a lengthy hiatus, singer-songwriter Ben Heyworth rises from the creative banks of Manchester’s Ancoats Marina with “Creatures,” a three-track EP that feels like a quiet revelation. Older, wiser, and steeped in introspection, Heyworth returns under his name with a new sonic compass: one that points not to spectacle but to story, to subtlety, and to soul. It’s a warmly worn map of memory and meaning, inked with acoustic textures, literary lyricism, and what Heyworth calls an “urban folk” sensibility.
The “Creatures” EP is a slow-brewing alchemy of lived experience, spiritual questioning, and tonal restraint. Think Crowded House with Mancunian roots, Tori Amos on a houseboat, Damon Albarn with a folk guitar, and Jordan Rakei’s velvety polish on a rainy day. Each track invites you into a different mental landscape. And above it all floats Heyworth’s voice: smooth, weathered, and expressive, like parchment that’s been folded and unfolded too many times, but still holds the truth.
The EP opens with “Narrowboat,” a peaceful meditation that drifts like fog along the Rochdale Canal. “I smoked a pipe and I tell no lies,” Heyworth intones in the first line—a declaration of honesty and grounding, wrapped in the comforting scent of nostalgia. His vocals are soft yet purposeful, the kind of voice that leans in instead of shouting out. It’s intimate, with a touch of rust, and feels like it’s been earned. Backed by fingerpicked acoustic guitar and a bed of ambient textures, the production here precise. The lyrics walk a quiet line between resignation and hope: “Days, as I live and breathe. They lift me up like the breath of the morning.” The song dwells in moments of reflection, turning a simple boat into a vessel for grief, renewal, and soft resilience. This is music that doesn’t need to demand attention; it deserves it.
With “Image of Roads,” Heyworth swaps canals for highways—but the road he’s driving down is shrouded in illusion. “No turning back, turning back. Looking out from the dials,” he sings with a low, steady urgency. His delivery feels haunted, yet dignified—an emotional undercurrent pulling against the gravel roll of acoustic strums and subdued percussion. The soundscape is dusty and cinematic, evoking wide skies and empty motels, even if the trip is only happening in the mind. The song’s central question; “Is this a 3-D export image of roads?” lands like a philosophical brick through a windshield. The imagery is striking, but the weight of the song comes from Heyworth’s performance: restrained but emotionally loaded. The track closes with a quietly devastating line: “I doubt we’ll get close,” and with it, we understand the heartache of moving without arriving, of escape without clarity. Musically, this is the EP’s duskiest moment, built on tension and ambiguity, and executed with aching grace.
The EP’s closer, “Creature Double Feature,” is where Heyworth lets his imagination roam wild. The track is surreal, playful, and uncomfortably close to the bone—a sonic dreamscape populated with “piglets and sailors,” “blue girls and mood boys,” “grebos and gaters.” It’s an abstract mirror maze of character and identity, with Heyworth circling the question: “Do you know where you are?” The vocal delivery here leans into wonder and disorientation, his tone is curious and unsettled. There’s an almost Bowie-esque detachment in parts, matched by folk-rooted chord progressions that tether the eccentric narrative to earth. This song feels like a basement folk jam in a time capsule—a little vintage, a little warped. Despite the whimsical phrasing, the emotional center remains clear: this is a song about fractured identity, the characters we invent, and the ones we can’t quite outrun.
With “Creatures,” Ben Heyworth doesn’t announce a comeback—he murmurs it through a dusty letterbox, with poetry folded into every bar. This is a work of quiet brilliance, marked by thoughtful craftsmanship, subtle production, and a refusal to conform to loudness or trend. The EP sits within the alt/folk genre but stretches beyond it, touching on urban storytelling, acoustic soul, and the unglamorous magic of everyday life. If you are new to Heyworth, this EP is the perfect welcome. If you’ve missed him, it’s a deeply satisfying return. And for those parked somewhere in between, “Creatures” might just be the soundtrack we didn’t know we needed.
Listen to the “Creatures” EP on Spotify
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