Ben Hazlewood – Spiral (2025)
Ben Hazlewood is a pop vocalist with a powerful voice and a penchant for blending a variety of styles from synth-pop to alt-soul. His voice has the perfect pop music palette, carrying a little grit, a little swagger, and a lot of heart. He has been releasing music since 2014 and has an impressive list of singles to his name.
On the heels of 2024’s The Live Mixtape, which strings together snippets of nine singles for 15 minutes of cinematic pop, Hazlewood collaborated with Austin Myles Grant and Lauren Little in New York to write and record ‘Spiral’. Based on his own struggle with mental health, ‘Spiral’ is Hazlewood’s way of drawing attention to The Trevor Project, which focuses on suicide prevention efforts for LGBTQ teens.
“After years of battling mental health challenges, music became my truest lifeline,” Hazlewood says. “At my lowest, I was caught in a spiral of self-destruction… But I began to find the strength to face my trauma and do the work to turn my life ‘180 from a spiral.’”
Built on changing settings of style and tone, ‘Spiral’ opens with a synth pulse and a ghost-like gospel feel as an impassioned Hazlewood sings, “I’m gonna say it like I’m dying to tell the truth.” The song switches to a faintly Beatles-esque moment with an analog synth sound reminiscent of ’Strawberry Fields’ and lyrics that recall Tom Petty’s iconic song ‘Wildflowers’ (a number that has its own story of mental health behind it). Before the single is done, Hazlewood takes listeners through an anthemic chorus to a gentle bridge section that pictures a moment of serenity before bursting into the chorus again.
‘Spiral’ is impressive for neither wallowing nor driving the angst too hard. Hazlewood and company carefully plot their way toward a pop anthem whose various parts are unified by Hazlewood’s voice and his personal story.
Find out more about Ben Hazlewood on his Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok and Spotify.
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