A melodic 90s dancefloor influenced anthem with a male/female vocal.

Come Alive.wav

A sunny explosion of melodic synth pop. This is a feel good summery tune with male/female vocals and an 80s style beat.

Hey Mr Sunshine.wav

This is my first tune on my new synth pop project Café Riva.  Recorded by myself (Ben Holt) and mixed/mastered by Lee McKechnie.  The song was written as a positive spin on the so-called Doomsday of 21/12/2012 predicted by the Mayan Prophecy - "this is not the end but a new beginning".

This Is Not The End

First track written under my new music project 'Café Riva'.  This is a home studio produced track and will appear on my forthcoming album entitled 'Wake up, smell the Coffee' to be hopefully released in the spring of 2013.
This track was entered into the 2012 UK songwriters Contest and came in at a semi-final position in the 'Pop' category.

Tears Collide

Probably the lead synthy track from the forthcoming album and with more of a singer songwriter feel.  This is a song about things that happen in dreams and in particular the fear of drowning.  Quite depressing I know but also haunting and that is what hopefully has come across in the music here.  It was written on the piano and has an electronic drum and bass backing.

Hold On

A melodic piano driven synth pop tune with a mellow verse and big chorus.  Pads, synths and beats fill this song until it kicks in to a trance-esqe outro.

Sparkle.wav

Title track from my new EP due for release in August.  Synth-fused pop taking influences from 80s new wave to mid 90s dance.  I decided to bring in my other half Liz for guest vocals on this one which I think works to good effect on the alternate lines in the verse and melodic chorus.

Wake up, smell the coffee.wav

Ben Holt is an accomplished singer-songwriter whose music and lyrics are honest, warm and melodic.  Based on the sunny south coast of England.  His sound echoes influences of early A-HA, The Beatles, Pet Sounds era Beach Boys and piano based artists such as One Republic, Tom Odell and Keane.  Ben began his musical career playing drums in a Bristol band named 'Benny Profane' until a period of travelling the world took him away from the scene for some time.  It was at this point that Ben began penning his own songs, albeit without any kind of musical instrument at the time!  Just a wayward imagination and pen and paper.  Not content with sitting behind a drum kit, Ben learnt piano, found a voice and began embarking on a creative journey, playing covers and writing his own songs.  Like all artists, the songs have taken a while to blossom, but now Ben has discovered a sound which is predominantly driven by the piano but coloured with orchestral layers and vocal harmonies.  Over ten years on, Ben Holt is an accomplished and experienced singer-songwriter, writing about personal experiences past and present, delivered with emotion and warmth.  The songs are written, recorded and mixed in Ben's home studio and are currently being worked into a live set environment with piano, voice and the odd backing track.  It goes without saying that these songs mean a lot but what means a lot more is people listening…….so enjoy!