Mixtape

Released in late 2024, Mixtape represents a pivot for Ben Cooper (Radical Face) away from the sprawling, multi-album narratives of 'The Family Tree' toward a more fragmented and personal songwriting style. The album title reflects its curated, eclectic nature, blending original compositions with a notable interpretation of Erik Satie's 'Gymnopodie No. 1'. Sonically, it maintains Cooper's 'found-sound' ethos, utilizing non-traditional percussion and dense vocal layering recorded in a home environment. Critically, the album is noted for its high level of intimacy and its ability to evoke specific, nostalgic imagery without relying on clichéd tropes. It sits in the Radical Face catalog as a bridge between his high-concept folk epics and a more modern, bedroom-pop-adjacent sensibility, emphasizing texture and mood over linear storytelling. The inclusion of tracks like 'Kids Are Mean' and 'Teenage Feelings' suggests a thematic focus on the formative emotional landscapes of youth and the processing of past social dynamics.