After eight years, British blues virtuoso BEN POOLE is back with his stunning new studio album, “Post-Midnight Behaviour”, due September 25, 2026, via Gypsy Soul Records!
Produced alongside Wayne Proctor and Oli Brown, the album is a tour de force of expressive vocals, rich sonic landscapes, and jaw-dropping guitar craftsmanship,
Post-Midnight Behaviour, is due for release on September 25, 2026, via Gypsy Soul Records. It will be Poole’s first studio album of brand-new material in eight years and is available to pre-order on CD and vinyl, as well as pre-save digitally.
Album highlights:
“Time Has No Mercy” has a fidgety feel, driven by fretful bass notes and a restless attitude. Poole’s song-voice is pleasingly honeyed on this song about remaining true to oneself. The sonic landscape grows hazier as the piece progresses, layered with fuzzier guitars about a third of the way in. The winding, twisting guitar solo adds contortion and shape to the structure, turning the single into an imaginative ode to resisting the tests of time and maintaining a focus on personal empowerment.
“Empty” opens with a low-bandwidth, pneumatic groan before gradually locking into a slow-burn groove. Wonderfully expressionistic and intellectually ambitious, the song—about losing one’s memory & clarity with age (“Here I go again, falling further out of the view...”)—pairs sophisticated modern production techniques with pristine, timeless vocals resting on lush, immersive layers of sound. The result is both serene and deeply alluring.
sophisticated modern production techniques paired with pristine, timeless vocals and lush, immersive layers of sound…
“No Second Chances“, written by Poole alongside synthesizer player and backing vocalist Oli Brown, drummer Wayne Proctor, and bassist Steve Amadeo, moves with a rhythmic, chain-smoking momentum. Poole’s vocal becomes a smooth wisp of blues-infused cognac and corn whiskey. The instrumentation is a thrilling agglomeration of fine lines and adept musical craftsmanship. Centered on walking away from a relationship that barely began, the listener can feel the sense of emancipation in every step the notes take toward freedom. Superb!
“Runaway Souls” (featuring Oli Brown and guest vocals by Elles Bailey) carries a deep Southern blues disposition—so authentic in nature that you can almost smell the sassafras perfume and taste the hot-hot gumbo. The track describes the urgent need to escape one’s current state of existence. After a moment of contemplation, an inescapable guitar solo yawns into earshot, sweeping the listener along the tracks toward a starry-night future. Compelling!
“Nothing To You” offers perhaps the clearest window into Poole’s creative interior. It is the most captivating showcase for Poole’s voice that carries high, clear, countertenor breathiness and buttercream emotional delivery, a tone comparable in power and soulfulness to female vocalists like Chaka Khan or Christina Aguilera, with male stylistic equivalents in Bruno Mars or Jeff Buckley. It is a song about holding on, perhaps for too long, to something unattainable. This magnificent composition also contains the most iridescent and lusciously exultant guitar solo on the album. Salvational!
BEN POOLE Post-Midnight Behaviour is a carefully structured and flawlessly executed album featuring insightful songwriting, masterful arrangements, and incomparable musicianship. Very highly recommended!
The CD + vinyl edition of BEN POOLE Post-Midnight Behaviour is available to pre-order from this link – https://gypsy-soul-records.myshopify.com/collections/ben-poole
The digital edition of the album is available to pre-save here – https://lnk.fuga.com/benpoole_postmidnightbehaviour
Words: © Neil Mach
Main image: © Mike Inns
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