“Last Flight” is the latest, and perhaps the clearest example that the songwriting and production talents of Ben DeHan continue to evolve beyond his pop-punk influences and experiences as a Vans Warped Tour alumni with American Diary.
Co-produced with Bryan Czap of The Dangerous Summer, “Last Flight” was written during a brief break in Ben’s 2022 Summer tour schedule and is the first publicly released collaboration since the release of “Woke Up” in March 2022. Matt Malpass (Blink-182 / Rookie Of The Year) mixed and mastered “Last Flight” and has produced the next six tracks Ben will be releasing every eight weeks in 2023.
“Lauren and I had just finished watching the last season of Stranger Things and I really wanted to capture that 80’s Alt / Synth Pop vibe in something new,” says Ben. “I’ve been transparent in the past about experiencing suicidal thoughts stemming from pain, numbness, and hopelessness, but with ‘Last Flight’ I wanted to emphasize that I don’t really want my life to end, I just want the pain (ie lifelong pattern, outcome, behavior, belief) to go away or change into something beautiful rather than malignant.”
“‘Last Flight’ is about being able to make that escape from my misaligned bias between who I perceive myself to be and who I am still becoming,” continues Ben. “To escape the voice in my head that says I’ll never be enough. To fly away. I hope that the vulnerability in my lyrics might give someone the courage to speak up and talk about how they feel rather than making a permanent decision grounded in temporary circumstances.”
The music of “Last Flight” feels like the natural evolution of Ben’s sound; Succeeding “Broken Bones,” the final single from Ben’s Blank Check EP, produced by Sam Pura (State Champs, The Story So Far) and released in January 2023. The driving uptempo beats and synth tones in “Last Flight” merge with authentic lyrics illustrating the inner struggle against our human nature while shining a light on the potential and the promise at the end of the tunnel.
I do my best to keep my head up / While my world is crashing down around my feet / I do my best to just forget em / When I’m crashing into everyone I meet
And I’ll fly / I’ll fly away from here / And I’ll fly /I’ll fly away from here
“I want to continue to talk and write openly about my struggle, pitfalls, victories, and lessons in anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts,” says Ben, “because it helps me get it off my chest and maybe it will help someone else do the same.”
Find “Last Flight” and more excellent music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Daniel Warren Hill is an American musician, writer, and motivational speaker. He is best known as the frontman for Washington DC area Alternative Rock band YellowTieGuy, as co-founder of Capitol Groove Collective, and increasing the exposure of artists on a global scale through his work with Alchemical Records.
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