''The Rebirth of Venus'' is the seventh

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Australian

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

musician

Ben Lee Benjamin Michael Lee (born 11 September 1978) is an Australian musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but he focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He appe ...

, released on 10 February 2009 by

New West Records New West Records is a record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Athens, Georgia. It had offices in Burbank, California, and Beverly Hills, California. The label was established in 1998 by Cameron Strang "for artists who perform real music ...

. A portion of the proceedings attained from the record are to be donated to

FINCA International FINCA International is a non-profit, microfinance organization, founded by John Hatch in 1984. FINCA is the innovator of the village banking methodology in microcredit and is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern-day microfinance. Wi ...

village banking Village banking is a microcredit methodology whereby financial services are administered locally rather than centralized in a formal bank. Village banking has its roots in ancient cultures and was most recently adopted for use by micro-finance insti ...

program. A press release said FINCA "offers financial services, not charity, to the world's lowest-income women entrepreneurs. This creates jobs, builds assets and generally improves the standard of living in these destitute communities." Critical response to the album has been largely negative, with particular mention of the song 'I'm a Woman, Too' (which Andrew P Street of ''Time Out Sydney'' described as reaching "a conclusion so baffling that it defies any criticism that isn't expressed via a crowbar to the jaw"). The album features

Missy Higgins Melissa Morrison Higgins (born 19 August 1983), known professionally as Missy Higgins, is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Her Australian number-one albums are ''The Sound of White'' (2004), ''On a Clear Night'' (2007) and ''The Ol ...

, Nic Johns,

Cary Brothers Cary Brothers (born 1974) is an American indie rock singer-songwriter originally from Nashville, Tennessee, United States. After moving to Los Angeles and becoming a regular performer at the influential Hotel Cafe venue, Brothers first gained ...

Patience Hodgson The Grates were an Australian indie rock band that formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 2002. They were brought to national attention in 2004 when a demo of their single "Trampoline" received airplay on radio station Triple J. Their first two albu ...

John Alagia John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

(''Ripe'' producer) and

Lara Meyerratken Lara Meyerratken is an Australian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Meyerratken is most commonly associated with her longtime collaborator Ben Lee. Meyerratken is a notable session musici ...

Track listing

*All songs written by Ben Lee, except where noted. # "What's So Bad (About Feeling Good)" – 4:39 # "Surrender" – 3:16 # "Sing" – 3:15 # "I Love Pop Music" – 3:35 # "Rise Up" – 4:25 # "Yoko Ono" – 3:42 # "Boy with a Barbie" – 3:27 # "Bad Poetry" (Lee, Carrick Moore Gerety) – 3:41 # "Blue Denim" – 4:03 # "Wake Up to America" (Lee, Jason Schwartzman) – 4:27 # "I'm a Woman, Too" – 3:21 # "Families Cheating at Board Games" – 5:42 # "Song for the Divine Mother of the Universe" – 3:38

Bonus CD (Limited 2CD version)

# "New Wave" (originally by

Against Me! Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineup ...

) # "Rock Boys" (originally by

The Grates The Grates were an Australian indie rock band that formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 2002. They were brought to national attention in 2004 when a demo of their single "Trampoline" received airplay on radio station Triple J. Their first two albu ...

) # "Ben Lee" (originally by

The Ataris The Ataris are an American punk rock band from Anderson, Indiana. Formed in 1996, they released five studio albums between 1997 and 2007. Their best-selling album is ''So Long, Astoria'' (2003), which was certified gold. Their high-charting si ...

) # "

Woman Is the Nigger of the World "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" is a song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with Elephant's Memory from their 1972 album ''Some Time in New York City''. Released as the only single from the album in the United States, the song sparked controversy ...

" (originally by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

) # "

Kids Kid, Kids, KIDS, and K.I.D.S. may refer to: Common meanings * Colloquial term for a child or other young person ** Also for a parent's offspring regardless of age * Engage in joking * Young goats * The goat meat of young goats * Kidskin, lea ...

" (originally by

MGMT MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists of ...

) # "

Throw Your Arms Around Me "Throw Your Arms Around Me" is a song by Australian rock music, rock band Hunters & Collectors first released as a single in November 1984 by White Label for Mushroom Records. A re-recorded version of the song later appeared on the band's 1986 al ...

" (originally by

Hunters and Collectors Hunters & Collectors are an Australian rock band formed in 1981. Fronted by founding mainstay, singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of pub rock and art-funk. Other mainstays are John Archer on bass guitar, Do ...

)

Personnel

*John Alagia, Cary Brothers, Justin Carroll, Michael Chavez, Brian Conrad, Missy Higgins, Patience Hodgson, Laura Jansen, Melissa McCarty, Eric Robinson,

Ione Skye Ione Skye Lee ( ; Ione Skye Leitch; born September 4, 1970) is a British-born American actress and the daughter of singer Donovan. She made her film debut in the thriller ''River's Edge'' (1986) before gaining mainstream exposure for her starr ...

, Maria Teresa Suarez, Olivia Asta Wood, Vanessa Wood: backing vocals *Jack Graddis: guitars *Nick Johns: acoustic, electric and bass guitars,

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

, keyboards, piano, drums, percussion *Ben Lee: electric and acoustic guitars, piano *Travis Aaron McNabb: drums, percussion *Lara Meyerratken: acoustic, electric and bass guitars, keyboards, piano, drums, percussion *Jason Nesmith:

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

*Kate Netto: percussion, backing vocals *Ezra Reich: guitars *Chick Wolverton: percussion *Brad Wood: electric and synthesized bass, drums, percussion

Production

*Produced and mixed by Brad Wood *Recorded and engineered by Nick Johns (drums), Mike Terry (drums) and Brad Wood *Mastered by Greg Calbi

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebirth of Venus 2009 albums Ben Lee albums New West Records albums Universal Records albums Albums produced by Brad Wood