On Wednesday, November 9th, Benjamin Dakota Rogers released his latest single, “Arlo.” The track marks the first official taste of Rogers’ upcoming sophomore album, Painted Horse – which fans of the artist’s distinctive sound can look forward to this February.
“Arlo” is the latest example of Rogers’ ability to distill vivid stories into raw, yet carefully-crafted lyrics reminiscent of classic folk artistry. The track draws from his own memories of growing up on a family-owned farm and the experience of camping in true wilderness, with no close enough civilization to interrupt the endless darkness and solitude of the night.
“It was this past summer I realized that even at 2 in the morning I could see the nearest subdivisions lighting up the clouds, bringing their glow ever closer. It makes me feel sad,” Rogers admits. “It makes me think of old times — of family farms lost to progress and what the future will look like.”
“Arlo” primarily pays tribute to the previous generations who once owned the land and knew all of the beauty it had to offer, relating the loss of the farm’s distinct family ties through the description of sleepless nights under the glow of a neon motel sign. To Rogers — and so many others — it’s hard to believe that the land, and the lives of the people who love it, are being stunted in this way: “I keep on trying but I just can’t believe this is all you have for me.”
Each element of Rogers’ art — from his 1922 Stella tenor guitar to the studio he set up in a barn on his family’s Southwestern Ontario farm — emulates the wild beauty of his home and classic string-band folk music. And even as tradition gives way to the relentless cry for progress and the “cancerous tumors” of government seizure make these priceless experiences more difficult to capture, Rogers’ unique gift of connecting the past and present through his music allows the spirit of simpler times to live on.
You can check out the rest of Benjamin Dakota Rogers’ discography on all your favorite streaming platforms — and keep an eye out for the rest of Painted Horse, arriving February 17th, 2023. Find this and more great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Emma Downes is a recent graduate of DeSales University in Center Valley, PA, where she studied English and Communication. As a lifelong writer and music lover, she is happy to be incorporating both into her work for Alchemical Records. When she’s not writing, she enjoys getting to know the DMV entertainment scene, drawing, and spending time with her four siblings.
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