FULL GOLDENPLEC REVIEW: Benny Smiles came very close to being mistaken as an aspiring star of novelty music making. After all, his first offering to the public domain was NCAD Girl, a hilarious tune with an RnB style chorus, telling the story of a man and his fascination with female art students. However Smiles, also known as Ross Fortune, uses his début ep ‘Sunshine/Moonlight’ to prove to us that he does more than make songs about obsessive men pining after girls covered in paint. The first thing you hear on this ep is a three-part, harmonized call of Sunshine, the tracks title, which seems to beckon to the heavens, pleading for an offering from the gods. Their prayers are answered, as we are presented with echoing, atmospheric synths, driven by a rhythmic bass line. Smiles builds the song gradually, adding a pounding drum beat, more synths, and layers of vocals, to make a huge, dreamlike sound. The entrancing mix comes to a dynamic peak, before making a gradual decline, and ends as it started, with a final call of ‘Sunshine’, a grateful thank you for the experience. Sunday Morning gets going with immediacy, opening with a driving beat, hand claps, and a repeating synth loop that is strangely reminiscent of The Who’s Baba O’Reilly. The track has a completely different atmosphere to Sunshine. Gone is the airiness and dreaminess, replaced by a grounded, gritty sound. This is helped by an infectious, crunching bass line that puts your speakers’ sustainability to the test. Dainty ditty, and highlight of the compilation, Moonlight sees Ham Sandwich’s Niamh Farrell lending a hand with the vocals. Backed by pizzicato strings and accentuated glockenspiel notes, Farrell’s words tell the story of a girl in an exciting, new relationship, ‘I’ve been waiting for what felt like forever/ for one who fills me up with good terror’. The soft vocal and tip toeing of the plucking strings give the song a delicate, heady air. However, it is kept grounded by the repeating sound of paper being slowly ripped. With this E.P. Benny Smiles shows that he is a diverse and talented artist. His willingness to use different instrumentation and sounds results in tracks that are varied and unique and aurally tantalizing. It is solid proof that he doesn’t have to rely on novelty to grab an audience’s attention PRESS: CHASSEUR MAGAZINE: “Benny is by far the most charming, energetic, addictive, unique and pleasurable acts of the [Hard Working Class Heroes] festival so far. He asks everyone to take “seven steps forward” and then proceeds to move and shake across the stage, never missing a note. The audience are in the palm of his hand throughout, truly captivated by his inescapable talent, showing many of the bands how it is done. Industry execs must be salivating at the prospects he presents.” GOLDENPLEC: “[Somehow Yours Do] is a beauty of a track with hypnotising synths and a captivating video” HOTPRESS: Tipped HOT for 2013. “‘Moonlight’ featuring Ham Sandwich’s Niamh Farrell is radio-friendly whimsy at its finest. Known to his postman as Ross Fortune, this shapeshifting musicmaker has covered a whole lot of musical ground…barely stepping a foot wrong” GOLDENPLEC: “With [Sunshine / Moonlight] Benny Smiles shows that he is a diverse and talented artist. His willingness to use different instrumentation and sounds results in tracks that are varied and unique and aurally tantalizing. It is solid proof that he doesn’t have to rely on novelty to grab an audience’s attention.” NIALLER9: “Benny Smiles has given me one of my favourite tracks of the last month already with ‘Sunday Morning’” PUFFERFISH: “Playful, fun, fucking awesome… Benny Smiles is making funky electronic music that you can really enjoy. And we mean really enjoy. NCAD girl had us in stitches, and his less comedically oriented work is just as good.” AOIFE MC RTÉ 2XM: “[‘Sunday Morning’ is] definitely, definitely my favourite of the whole podcast [Nialler9 Podcast 39]…it’s so much fun!”