Brendan Benson Drops Ode to Domesticity, ‘Richest Man’

Brendan Benson has dropped a charming ode to family life, “Richest Man,” off his upcoming album, Dear Life, (out April 24th via Third Man Records).

“I’ve got two beautiful babies/one hell of a good looking wife,” the Raconteurs guitarist sings over a sizzling guitar riff. “Got twice the love and half the money/and I feel like the richest man alive.”

“I never thought I would write a song about domesticity!” Benson said in a statement. “When I wrote the words, I thought I would eventually change them to something a little less literal and ‘family man,’ but in the end, I decided I liked the lyrics for those two reasons.”

“Richest Man” follows the single “Good to Be Alive.” Dear Life is Benson’s seventh solo album, his first since 2013’s You Were Right. “There’s something about this record,” he said. “A friend of mine called it ‘life-affirming.’ I thought it was a joke at first but then realized, well, it’s about life and death for sure. I don’t know if that’s positive or optimistic or whatever, but that’s what’s going on with me.”

While under quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, Benson has postponed his spring tour in support of the record and has been posting live performances of tracks from Dear Life instead. Titled the “Boy in the Bubble,” the series can be found on his Instagram, posting every day at 5:20 pm E.T.