“It’s so hard for singers to forge a career on the club scene today unless they can do more than just sing” Ben Westbeech opens. “They need to be able to produce, otherwise they become a conduit for other artists; just another musical instrument.”

London-based Westbeech has been making waves with his voice for the past five years or so; ever since a CD demo of song So Good Today found its way to Gilles Peterson via a friend. The single, his first, was quickly released on Peterson’s Brownswood label in 2006 and, in turn, debut album Welcome To The Best Years Of Your Life, which self-written and composed, and largely self-produced, boldly flagged Westbeech’s reluctance to follow the usual subservient protocols for dance vocalists.

Next month Westbeech releases long-awaited second album There’s More To Life Than This; a follow-up which confirms his unique multi-tasking approach in the studio remains intact. All 11 tracks involve collaboration with a guest producer but the album’s spotlight is firmly on its singer and originator.

“I was actually working on another album when Strictly [Rhythm] first approached me” Westbeech confesses. “My own stuff was at such an early, rudderless stage that the Strictly opportunity was an attractive one. Of course, the new album didn’t start off in a manner I was comfortable with. We were discussing something more uptempo with more emphasis on guest producers but that, for me, didn’t sit right. Naturally, things evolved and finally we’ve arrived at something I’m really happy with.”

There’s More To Life Than This features impressive studio spots from, among others, Henrik Schwarz, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Rasmus Faber and MJ Cole. Westbeech, however, has ensured emotive and “house-inspired” stylistic flow between their contributions being that he has largely co-produced them; the songs they’re based on are also, once again, from his own pen and laptop.

“It took a while to get it right but this record definitely has my stamp on it. It’s not an album of producers featuring a vocalist; it’s a proper artist album. Strictly has an amazing reputation, and I’m hoping this lives up to that and does well. It’s been a weird project when you look at how much it has changed from the drawing board stage but a fun and rewarding one.”

It must feel weird, too, talking about an album completed many months ago, at the start of the year in fact. Since then, Westbeech has moved on to other projects and is, one imagines, in a totally different creative frame of mind?

“To a degree, yes” he answers. “My only disappointment with the record is that it couldn’t be released any sooner. I am in a new headspace now, working on different things. But to be honest most projects are old to an artist when they finally get to talking to journalists about them; there’s always a time lag, which can throw you off kilter.”

This artist seems anything but unsteady. Aside from carefully directed solo albums, lies a steady stream of gigs with his own live band (Westbeech is a classically-trained musician), relentless DJ bookings (he started DJing at the age of 12), shrewdly chosen collaborations with other music-makers, and production work under monikers including Breach (house) and Lean (drum & bass).

“I’m just so busy these days” he says. “I have a massive work ethic. I think you need one in this business. I’m a real chameleon because I know, in the long-term, being that way will help ensure my longevity. I love making music and this is my career, so I need to be able to make it stick.”

Such is Westbeech’s frenetic lifestyle that it is often slumped into plane, train or automobile seats that he finds his greatest inspiration for new ideas. As a case in point There’s More To Life Than This was recorded over 12 months in New York, Munich, Stuggart, Berlin, Stockholm, Bristol and London, and the constant travelling to-and-from studios provided him with his best opportunity to brainstorm.

“The travelling can be a pain but when you’re stuck in a seat, or in a hotel room, for God knows how long, then writing something is simply a good use of time” he offers. “It’s actually a great escape from the tedium of waiting around. I do pick up ideas from the different places I visit but it’s like you’re passing through most of the time and unless you keep your mind active then it’s easy to switch off. I get really bored with routine, so I make myself write; write on what I see, personal stuff, family, whatever. It’s really cathartic.”

Westbeech is currently going hell for leather in the studio to record new tracks as Breach, his distinctly harder-edged house alias. The material follows last year’s rated Breach debut Fatherless and is already attracting the attention of one massively influential clubland imprint: “It’s underground house, a really sharp vibe. I’m really enjoying playing around with different sounds.

He is also, industriously so, at work on another album under his own name. The record, whilst some way off, will have an ever stronger DIY ethic; which really is saying something: “I’m still working out what the general messages are, and creating chord structures and lyrics, but I’m feeling confident and mature enough to consider taking on all the production and engineering duties myself. The thought of creating a song-based album even more closely in line with my original ideas is massively appealing.”

Does he ever veer in his preferences more towards studio or stage? “I’m constantly up and down about what I prefer” he offers, “which is why having such a wide range of musical distractions keeps me happy. My mood is constantly in flux but as far as live performance goes there’s definitely a lot of room to try things and experiment with things like Ableton.”

Experimentation more than extends to the current clubland crop of vocal dance records. There are those tunes continuing to observe the time-honoured tradition of using loud-and-proud, ridiculously hands-in-the-air divas, but many more – especially within the house and techno scenes – game enough to try different angles.

“I’m all for the current new wave of dance vocals” Westbeech says. “Artists like Benoit & Sergio are doing some really interesting things, but danceable too. I think it’s fine for artists to use technology to help their vocals stand out. I have a problem with Auto-Tune, which makes everything sound so ‘radio’ and formulaic; frankly, it takes the craft away from singing. Stuff like Ableton, however, is cool; singers and producers are using technology here to create new textures and emotions from vocals, and that’s completely different. There is, of course, the issue of how you perform those sorts of quirkily-produced records live!”

Westbeech has come a long way in a short space of time and remarkably he’s only just turned 30. The title of his new album, versus that of his last, says a great deal about his changed outlook: “The linking of the titles was absolutely intentional. I wanted to say that I’ve grown up and still have room to grow. I was 26 when my early stuff was released; I had a lot of fun partying but was thrown into performing PAs, promoting and recording new songs. It was too much to cope with at the time. I’ve moved on, personally and musically. I still love that first album, and many people still tell me how much it means to them, but I feel like I have accomplished more with the second; if only because I’ve felt much more in control of the entire process.”

Westbeech is singing and truly, it seems, winning...

Words: Ben Lovett

Ben Westbeech’s new album There’s More To Life Than This is out on Strictly Rhythm Records on September 12.

New remixes of current single Something For The Weekend, including one by Lee Foss, are due for release later next month.