Bentley Jones

This article is about a real-life person. Information in this article is about real-life people, companies, and objects, which do not relate to the in-universe Sonic series.

Lee Brotherton
Lee Brotherton
Overview
Gender	Non-binary
Birthday	22 March 1985
Birthplace	Solihull, West Midlands, England
Nationality	British
Nickname(s)	Bentley Jones[citation needed] Phunkstar[citation needed]
Company(s)	EMI Music Japan[citation needed]
Job	Producer Vocalist Singer-songwriter Composer

Lee Brotherton, better known by their stage name Bentley Jones (ベントレー・ジョーンズ, Bentorē Jōnzu^?), is an English recording artist who signed their debut album, TRANS//LATION, to EMI Music Japan in 2008. Jones has been known to perform in English, French and Japanese.

Jones is known for their performance on Silver's theme "Dreams of an Absolution" in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). They have also remixed other tracks from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Some of their compositions and writing work are credited to their production house and UK label, the Remix Factory. They have also used the alias Phunkstar when creating official remixes for artists including Beyoncé, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.

History

Involvement with Sonic Team

When Brotherton was younger, they began experimenting with music production on the website OverClocked ReMix, where they uploaded remixes of songs from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, including tracks from Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Adventure 2. Later on, he would become involved in the series proper when an instrumental showreel of their latest works ended up in the hands of Jun Senoue from Sonic Team, who contacted Brotherton to ask if they would like to work on the series.

The game soundtrack he ended up working on was Shadow the Hedgehog, where they were credited as Lee Brotherton for the Remix Factory. They arranged the tracks for the Blue Falcon boss and "E.G.G.M.A.N. (Doc. Robeatnix Mix)", both of which are remixes of music from Sonic Adventure 2, with the Blue Falcon song based on the GUN Mobile theme. They would go on to write and perform Silver's theme "Dreams of an Absolution" in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Their vocals were also used for the "LB vs JS Remix" of "Dreams of an Absolution" in the vocal soundtrack for the game, Several Wills. For Sonic Rivals, Brotherton composed the track "Quick Trip to Paradise", which was used for Forest Falls Zone.

Debut of Bentley Jones

In 2007, they departed the Remix Factory in order to pursue a solo career under the stage name Bentley Jones. Under this new name, Jones would create a remix of "Open Your Heart", originally by Crush 40 for Sonic Adventure, for the compilation album True Blue: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog. They were a special guest at Summer of Sonic 2008, where they gave a live performance of their rendition of "His World", entitled the "Blue World Prelude".

Bentley Jones was offered a record deal by EMI Music Japan in 2008. They would release their debut single "Sunao ni Naretara ～FINAL NIGHT～" (素直になれたら ～FINAL NIGHT～, "Sunao ni Naretara ～FINAL NIGHT～"^?), and album TRANS//LATION, in 2009. They would also continue to contribute to the Sonic the Hedgehog series with their "Fairytales in Trance" remix of "Seven Rings in Hand" for the vocal soundtrack of Sonic and the Black Knight, Face to Faith. Their "K-Klub Remix'" of "Open Your Heart" was featured on the compilation album True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2. However, the song was released without their notification or approval. They did not consider it an accurate representation of his work, and as such did not regard it as an official addition to his discography.

In 2010, Bentley Jones released the EP So Much More... under their Remix Factory Music label. It features the theme for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing also titled "So Much More...". For their second album TRANS//LATION 2, released in 2011, they produced and arranged a new version of "Dreams of an Absolution (2011 Version)". The 2015 album TRANS//LATION 3: The Complete Anthology would contain another rendition, "Dreams of an Absolution (Nightlight Version)". Later in 2019 for TRANS//LATED: 10th Anniversary Album, they would record yet another version of the song, "Dreams of an Absolution 2019", along with releasing a music video.

In 2024, Bentley Jones would announce that they are once again working on "official projects" for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. To mark the occasion, Bentley Jones released an arrangement of "Diamond in the Sky" from Sonic R, alongside a ballad version. On 27 June 2024, Bentley Jones would reveal their intentions to leave the project he had previously mentioned due to the continuous "unpleasant and traumatic" experiences of working with certain members of the music team. Despite this dispute, due to Bentley Jones' love for the Sonic the Hedgehog series and its community, they are planning to release the songs produced as a personal project instead.

On 19 July 2024, Bentley Jones released a cover of "Live and Learn" from Sonic Adventure 2, also announcing it will be a bonus song for their upcoming album Memorian. On Twitter, Bentley Jones explained that the release of their version of the song was due to it no being attached to any projects, studios or companies at the moment, implying it was related to an official Sonic project before. The music video published on YouTube included hashtags and imagery from both Sonic Adventure 2 and the then-upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 film.

Credits

Soundtracks

• Shadow the Hedgehog:
  • "E.G.G.M.A.N. (Doc. Robeatnix Mix)"
  • "Boss: Blue Falcon"

• Sonic the Hedgehog (2006):
  • "Dreams of an Absolution"

• Sonic Rivals:
  • "Quick Trip To Paradise"

• Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing:
  • "So Much More..."

Albums

• Sonic the Hedgehog Vocal Traxx: Several Wills:
  • "Dreams of an Absolution (LB vs JS Remix)"

• True Blue: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • "Open Your Heart (Crush 40 vs. Bentley Jones Remix)"

• Face to Faith: Sonic and the Black Knight Vocal Trax:
  • "Seven Rings in Hand ~Fairytales in Trance~"

• True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2:
  • "Open Your Heart" (K-Klub Remix)

Other

• Summer of Sonic 2008:
  • "His World" (Blue World Prelude)
    • "His World" (Blue World Opus / Full version)

• Summer of Sonic 2009:
  • "They Call Me Sonic" (Furry Tails Enhanced Parody Mix)
  • "Escape from the City"

• TRANS//LATION 2:
  • "Dreams of an Absolution (2011 version)"

• TRANS//LATION 3: The Complete Anthology:
  • "Dreams of an Absolution (Nightlight Version)

• TRANS//LATED: 10th Anniversary Album:
  • "Dreams of an Absolution (2019 version)"

• Diamond in the Sky:
  • "Diamond in the Sky"
  • "Diamond in the Sky (Ballad version)"

• Memorian
  • "Live and Learn"

Trivia

• Bentley Jones is the first ever British artist to have a major-label Japanese album after signing a deal with EMI Music Japan.
• Jones' first video game was Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
• Their favorite Sonic the Hedgehog games are Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic Adventure.
• "Dreams of an Absolution" was one of the few songs Bentley Jones sang where they were not directly involved with the production or arrangement. Upon hearing the final product, they "weren't that keen on it", hence the reason why they remade the song for TRANS//LATION 2. However, they admitted that they were wrong since fans love the song.

External links

• Official website
• Bentley Jones on the Bentley Jones Wiki.
• Lee Brotherton on the VGMdb
• Lee Brotherton at the Internet Movie Database