Brendan Benson Talks Solo Album, Future of The Raconteurs

Readymade/Reid RollsLast month, The Raconteurs guitarist and co-frontman Brendan Benson released his fifth solo album, What Kind of World, through his own record label and publishing company, Readymade. In an interview with ABC News Radio, Benson says that he dug into his personal archives to create new material for the album and revisited a rejected track from his work with The Raconteurs, titled “Here in the Deadlights.”

“It was a Raconteurs song to begin with or, one that I brought to them and, in fact, we recorded it for Consolers of the Lonely but we ended up scrapping it,” reveals Benson.  “[It] didn't fit on the record but the great part is that it's coming out now on Third Man Records.  [Co-frontman] Jack [White]'s putting it out as a seven-inch.  The Raconteurs' version is called "Open Your Eyes" and the B-side is "You Make a Fool Out of Me," which is a song from My Old Familiar Friend, my last record which, again, was also a Raconteurs submission that was rejected.”

While The Raconteurs reunited for a few appearances last year, Benson notes that fans shouldn’t expect the band to record new material or tour again anytime soon. “There are no plans [to reunite] right now but it's not out of the question but, I think, we're all right now just, kind of, each of us, respectively, focusing on our solo stuff,” says Benson.  “Jack's finally taking the plunge and gone solo and, you know, he's got his thing and The Greenhornes are still going…we're all kind of just chipping away at the stone.”

Following a few dates in California and a European tour, Benson will kick off a string of North American dates promoting What Kind of World next month.  Label mate Young Hines will support Benson on all scheduled tour dates.

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