When Upper Ferntree Gully’s Benny Allen woke up to find his new country single sitting between P!nk and Keith Urban at No.2 on the iTunes country charts, he knew he was doing alright.
The award-winning local singer-songwriter recently released his new single, Rosepetals and Gunpowder, a “murder ballad” that is completely different to the country tracks Mr Allen usually produces.
“I was just moodling around on the guitar and played some minor chords and it just took me to this dark place. I just thought, wow that sounds dark, and I had this song just pour out of me, I have no idea where the song or the anti-hero in the song, Desmond, came from,” Mr Allen said.
Mr Allen’s typical music style is historical country songs after he “fell into country music three years ago”.
“I fell into country purely because a friend heard one of the songs I had written and said it sounds like a country song. I went up to Tamworth and just fell into it.
“I am a story-teller and the country music audience really appreciate that angle, and for me I’ve found that’s where I’m supposed to be,” he said.
Mr Allen said the idea of the murder ballad was sparked by the minor chord he struck on his guitar that day.
“I have no idea where the name even came from, but the Rosepetals and Gunpowder part came when I wrote the chorus and then once I started down the path of a murder ballad, it was a matter of writing a story.”
Mr Allen said writing Rosepetals and Gunpowder, which was released on Friday 5 March, was “fun” because he was writing something completely fictional.
“While it’s a bit dark, it also has some humour throughout the lyrics,” he said.
“When you’re going to write something massively dark, I think you need some humour in there.
Rosepetals and Gunpowder tells the story of Desmond who shoots his wife and her lover, and a range of law enforcement personnel, racking up a total of ‘lucky 13’, or unlucky in the case of the victims.
“This is my first and only murder ballad so far, but it’s the same with any of my writing – I don’t necessarily plan it; what comes out of me is what comes out and I’m releasing it because I really like the story. I really want to get a story I’m proud of out into the world,” he said.
“It was just absolutely amazing to wake up on the morning of release and find that so many people are supporting the music that I am putting out. I have been lucky enough to have had my last song get to number two on release day, so it is definitely a good habit to be getting into,” he said.
