This is What It Sounds Like When Gods Cry
Four years after “Catch My Disease” ran rampant through hospital dramas everywhere, Ben Lee is back with The Rebirth of Venus. “I’m a woman too,” Lee claims on track 11, as though anything could validate this failed attempt at a girl power concept album. Rebirth marks a new effort by Lee to be smart and actually say something (literally in spoken word interludes), but unfortunately the best portions of this album are the proceeds donated to FINCA (Foundation for International Community Assistance), a microfinance organization assisting low income entrepreneurs, particularly women. Unfortunately, even the comfort of knowing that you’ve made a difference won’t ease the pain of having paid for lines like “Religious intolerance creating geopolitical instability.”