What Matters Most (Ben Folds album)

What Matters Most
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 2, 2023
Recorded2022
StudioMiddletree (Nashville)
GenreChamber pop
Length38:36
Label
ProducerJoe Pisapia
Ben Folds chronology
So There
(2015)
What Matters Most
(2023)
Sleigher
(2024)
Singles from What Matters Most
  1. "Winslow Gardens"
    Released: February 15, 2023
  2. "Exhausting Lover"
    Released: April 12, 2023
  3. "Back to Anonymous"
    Released: May 19, 2023
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
American Songwriter
Glide Magazine70/100
Mojo
MusicOMH
PopMatters6/10
Slant Magazine
Sputnik Music2/5
Under the Radar

What Matters Most is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Ben Folds. Released on June 2, 2023, by New West Records, it was preceded by So There in 2015.

The album was announced on February 15, 2023, along with the release of the first single from the album, "Winslow Gardens". Folds toured the U.S. and Europe starting on March 24, 2023, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and ending on December 4, 2023, in Essen, Germany.

In an interview Folds called his album his most "true" to date, saying "I come from the vinyl era, and this perhaps more than any record I've made is a true album. There's a very specific sequence and arc to each side, all building up to this almost surreal positive finale, and that structure was really important to me." In the same interview, he says "Sonically, lyrically, emotionally, I don't think it's an album I could have made at any other point in my career."

Two more singles were released with "Exhausting Lover" being released on April 12, 2023, and "Back to Anonymous" being released on May 19, 2023.