Men as Trees Walking, the single from Gainesville-based singer-songwriter Ben White is slated to be released on July 11th. This is the first single and title track from his anticipated full-length album Men as Trees Walking, releasing August 25th on 4Bits Records. The album was produced by Greg Perkins and mastered by Ed Brooks (Pearl Jam, Death Cab for Cutie, Fleet Foxes, Courtney Marie Andrews, Adrianne Lenker).

Men as Trees Walking serves as the opening song to the album. The song begins as if rustling while waking from a deep sleep. Breathing heavily, the movements led by the lap steel swell into motion. Yet soon, one realizes it is a breath of exhaustion as the music turns to something akin to a heavy-footed trod, and the lyrics seem to be grasping at a worn and brittle hope. “I wanted to be very clear from the start. This album is about not being able to see clearly, being lost, trying to find your way, casting off dusty theories, chasing light coming through cracks, and everything you thought real being a distortion. There is no peace or rest in that state. And this song is an honest reflection of my ongoing journey through all of that.”

Born in Winter Park, Florida, Ben White grew up in an evangelical family. As the son of a pastor, he spent a lot of time in churches, eventually becoming a music pastor himself. In 2010, Ben left the church and has since spent years unpacking the trauma of his spiritual deracination. While the album plays with the different shapes of rediscovering oneself, the single Men as Trees Walking delves into the facets of grief and loss associated with the process of relinquishing an ill-fitting identity and committing to another path.