This Former Physics Teacher Recorded an Album of Folky Songs Inspired by Sonar

Ben Labat, a former physics teacher who once had a Capitol Records deal, has released *Echolocationism*, a self-recorded folk-rock album shaped by his interest in how marine animals navigate using echolocation. After nearly three decades in music, Labat says he has been drawn towards the directness of lyrics and melodies, centring the record on his voice and an acoustic guitar.

The album is his seventh solo LP since 2006 and contains 11 tracks, 10 written by Labat; the remaining song is Harry Styles’ “Matilda”, a favourite of his daughter. He built the recording around a Martin D-28 guitar once owned by his grandfather, and carried over studio practices learned from producer Greg Ladanyi on the Terms’ 2006 debut. That earlier record charted on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, but an accident soon brought the band’s run to an early end.