Ben Lorentzen is a Norwegian born singer songwriter, born way up north near Tromsø, where the climate is harsh, the landscape is majestic but rough, and sun is hidden 6 months out of the year.

Lorentzen wrote his first song at 11 years old and the lyrical backdrop was then much the same as it is now: aging & dying, hope & loss, a soulful search for meaning, a spiritual journey towards redemption.

“I was a serious 11 year old, an old soul often lost in thought, contemplating life and its meaning”.
As a grown up he learnt from teachers he had back then that several of them was worried about him and considering getting social service involved. An 11 year old should not be so dark and serious all the time.

Somewhat remote to by-passers Ben Lorentzen had discovered music and songwriting and this became a far more attractive universe to investigate then what seemed available around him. Growing up in a strict religious environment meant rules and limitations. But music was hard to regulate. It became a place to escape to. A place of solace. A place to dream and breath.

“Having accomplished my first song I was literally high for a week. It was something I had never experienced before. This was my religion, this was my gateway to the unknown, to the mysterious, to the spiritual”.

Ben Lorentzen’s first musical hero was Elvis Presley. Raw, energetic … and a little dangerous. Ben was told by his comunity that Lucifer himself looked like Elvis… Even so, from Elvis he learnt about rock, gospel, country & blues and developed a powerful appetite for everything american. Cars being one of them.

“Driving and listening to loud music is to this day one of life’s ultimate high’s. Not as good as sex, but very, very close.”

Later he discovered Dylan and his deep lyrical visions, a different take on the rich american culture. This lay the foundation for later discoveries such as Paul Simon, Nick Cave, Soundgarden and Tool.

Traces of these artist can be found in Lorentzen’s music: rich, strong and sensuously forbidding, a place where he can take his darkly poetic sensibility and explore the outer rims of pleasure and pain, hope and despair, love and loss. The framework that makes up most of our lives.

Ben Lorentzen has toured around the globe since he formed his first band at 16 and played on all continents except Australia. Lorentzen was first reckognized as a songwriter, and has written songs as a staff writer for EMI Publishing Norway.This led him to write and recorded songs with critically acclaimed artists such as Martin Hagfors (Homegroan, 1997) and Paal Flaata (Rain, 2006). He won a taste of mainstream recognition as a founding band member of Brent with a top 40 hit single “Need to Need you” (2002).

Ben Lorentzen has now found his footing in the United States, and is currently living in New Jersey.
The fact his most enduring musical influences were soaked up in the states can be heard on his first solo album “America” (2015), an acoustic album deeply rooted in the indie/americana tradition.

Lorentzen’s latest release “Pains & Pleasures of Intimacy” (2017) is much like his earlier work a balance between delicate emotion and simple honesty, but this time the musical framework explores the bounderies between dark, roots oriented songs and high spirited rock’n roll. With a clear sense of tradition Ben has carved out a strong identity inside folk/ americana. He calls it Suburban Pop Noir.

New Jersey, the ultimate Suburbia, the Garden State also framed as the “armpit of the US”, is rich with musical and artistic traditions. Maybe because it was always New Yorks little brother, the one that took the beating, the place people dumped their trash, where the workers lived, where you went when you could afford New York. New Jersey was for a long time as far away from cool as Ghana, Korea or Pakistan. Or Norway. Maybe it is because of this underdog position that you find a deep urging from the spirit that made america, a foundation that created powerful characters such as Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep, Whitney Houston, Jon Stewart etc etc.

It’s good to be in the company of such suburban underdogs.

Suburban Noir is music that is real. It is serious music, music that takes life seriously.

“My music can be intimate, quiet but then slowly we build the band to explosion. I want to explore serious topics. I want to reach peoples heart, touch their souls, leave a string of the same fabric that touched me, that has touched millions and will continue to do so."