Echoes and Emotion in Ben Heyworth’s 'Creature' EP

Ben Heyworth emerges from a creative chrysalis with Creature EP, his first solo release in years. Long known as a key figure in Manchester's musical underground, from the lush pop of Minorplanet to the cinematic electronica of This Morning Call, Heyworth returns with something altogether more organic, intimate, and quietly powerful. Across three tracks, he navigates identity, place, and memory with lyrical clarity and a musical palette that fuses ‘90s British indie sensibility with the warmth of “urban folk.” It’s an EP that whispers rather than shouts and in doing so, speaks volumes.

Opening with “Narrowboat”, Heyworth anchors his songwriting in the waterways of Manchester. Built on gently rolling guitar and unhurried phrasing, the track paints a soulful portrait of life afloat and adrift. “I smoke a pipe and I tell no lies / And wait for daylight to arrive” sets the tone, a romantic yet clear-eyed reflection on finding meaning amid the mundane. There’s a timeless quality to lines like “Days, as I live and breathe / They lift me up like the breath of the morning”, where the song opens like a misty dawn over the canal, serene and quietly moving. Heyworth's voice is front and centre, textured, vulnerable, and utterly sincere.

“Image of Roads” shifts gears, both thematically and sonically. Here, Heyworth flirts with Americana, but it’s filtered through a British lens. A fictional road trip spirals into existential ambiguity. “Illusionary contagion / Caught in a simulation / Is this a 3-D export image of roads?” This is a journey without a destination, a mirage of freedom set against shimmering synths and brushed snares. The chorus pulses with motion. “Pick up the slack, put your foot down / We’re making up miles” yet the track remains uncertain whether those miles are metaphor or memory. It’s both cinematic and disorienting, like driving through fog with a map that keeps redrawing itself.

The EP closes with the title track “Creature Double Feature”, a surrealist carnival of characters and confessions. The lyrics are playful and grotesque. “Come on the piglets and sailors / And all the weird ones” Heyworth beckons, leading us into a hall of mirrors where identity fragments and multiplies. “When I look in the mirror / Do I recognise myself / Or am I just a creature double feature?” The question is theatrical, but the delivery is painfully real. Sonically, it’s the most layered of the three, a rich swirl of retro textures and lyrical absurdism that recalls Damon Albarn’s more introspective moments.

Ben Heyworth

Creature EP is not a grand return. It’s something subtler and braver. It’s the sound of an artist unafraid to linger in quiet places, to find strange beauty in the everyday, and to ask questions that don’t come with easy answers.

For more music, updates, and upcoming live shows, connect with Ben Heyworth via his official website.