So There

For other uses, see So There (disambiguation).

So There
Studio album by Ben Folds
Released	September 11, 2015 (2015-09-11)
Recorded	October 2014
Studio	Grand Victor Sound (Nashville, Tennessee) [1]
Genre	Chamber pop
Length	51:50
Label	New West Records
Ben Folds chronology
Live (2013) So There (2015) What Matters Most (2023)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	66/100 [2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	[3]
AllMusic	[4]
American Songwriter	[5]
Consequence	58/100 [6]
Drowned in Sound	[7]
Exclaim!	[8]
Magnet	[9]
Mojo	[10]
PopMatters	[11]
Q Magazine	[12]
Record Collector	[13]
Uncut	[14]

So There is the first studio album by Ben Folds and the yMusic Ensemble, released on September 11, 2015. The album includes eight chamber pop songs and one piano concerto performed with the Nashville Symphony. ^[15]

Background and recording

Initially, Folds was jointly commissioned by the Nashville Ballet, Nashville Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra to write a piano concerto, and composed "Concerto For Piano & Orchestra: Movements 1, 2 and 3". The pieces were recorded at Fold's Grand Victor Sound studio (better known as Nashville's historic RCA Studio A) with the 83-piece Nashville Symphony orchestra and producer Elliot Scheiner. Folds collaborated with the yMusic Ensemble at the same studio to create eight chamber pop songs to complete the album. ^[1]

Reception

On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, So There received an average score of 66, which indicated "Generally Favorable Reviews". ^[16] In a review that gave the album an 80/100, AllMusic's Marcy Donelson stated "The album will very likely be embraced by solo Folds aficionados, though it may not appeal to those who strongly favor the brasher Five." ^[17]

In a more negative review, Adam Kivel from Consequence wrote, "In that sense, the orchestra draws out the purest essence of Folds. When he’s cute, he’s so remarkably cute and knows it. When he’s clever, the same holds true. When he’s singing sincerely and digging into deep emotion, the instrumentation doubles down. That makes dramatic songs like "Capable of Anything" and "I’m Not the Man" the most affective, while others are either momentarily fun or obnoxious, depending on your predisposition." Later in the same review saying "Folds' gifts for narrative and composing are clear, but fusing the two more fluidly could be something magical." ^[18]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ben Folds except where noted ^[19] .

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Capable of Anything"		3:49
2.	"Not a Fan"		3:34
3.	"So There"		4:20
4.	"Long Way to Go"		4:42
5.	"Phone in a Pool"		4:03
6.	"Yes Man"	Ben Folds / Rob Moose	3:59
7.	"F10-D-A"		1:58
8.	"I'm Not the Man"	Ben Folds / Alicia Witt	4:41
9.	"Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Movement 1"		10:28
10.	"Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Movement 2"		5:45
11.	"Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Movement 3"		4:31

Personnel

Tracks 1–8:

• Ben Folds – piano, vocals, percussion
• Rob Moose – violin, harmonies
• Nadia Sirota – viola
• Gabriel Cabezas – cello
• CJ Camerieri – trumpet, French horn
• Alex Sopp – flute, alto flute, piccolo, harmonies, cover art
• Hideaki Aomori – clarinet, bass clarinet
• Gracie Folds – harmony on "So There"

Additional musicians on Phone in a Pool:

• Sam Smith – drums
• Ryan Lerman – guitar
• Chad Chapin – percussion
• Andrew Higley – synthesizer and additional arranging

Tracks 9–11:

• Ben Folds – Yamaha Concert Grand piano
• Nashville Symphony Orchestra – various orchestral instruments

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
UK Albums (OCC) [20]	63
US Billboard 200 [21]	44

References

1. Flint, Tom (December 2015). "Ben Folds: Recording So There". Sound On Sound. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
2. "Critic Reviews for So There". Metacritic.
3. "chorus.fm". chorus.fm. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
4. Donelson, Marcy. "So There – Ben Folds". AllMusic.
5. Horowitz, Hal (2015-09-14). "Ben Folds: So There". American Songwriter. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
6. Kivel, Adam (2015-09-10). "Album Review: Ben Folds and yMusic - So There". Consequence. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
7. "Album Review: Ben Folds - So There". DrownedInSound. Archived from the original on 2022-09-27. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
8. "Ben Folds So There | Exclaim!". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
9. Magnet No. 124, p. 57
10. Mojo October 2015, p. 93
11. Blum, Jordan (October 5, 2015). "Ben Folds: So There". PopMatters.
12. Q October 2015, p. 108
13. "So There - Record Collector Magazine" . Retrieved 2022-09-22.
14. Uncut October 2015, p. 75
15. Boilen, Bob. "Song Premiere: Ben Folds And yMusic, 'Capable Of Anything'". NPR. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
16. "So There Metacritic Page". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
17. Donelson, Marcy. "So There Review". AllMusic . Retrieved 2023-02-19.
18. Kivel, Adam (September 10, 2015). "Album Review: Ben Folds and yMusic - So There". Consequence . Retrieved February 19, 2023.
19. "So There by Ben Folds on iTunes". iTunes . 2015-09-11. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
21. "Ben Folds Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 22, 2015.