North London newcomer Benjamin Clementine releases his debut album, continuing a journey which has taken Benjamin from busking around Paris to a debut performance on BBC2's Later..with Jools Holland late last year, and then sold-out headline shows at London's Purcell Rooms, Koko and Emmanuel Centre. Benjamin Clementine has packed a lot into his 25 years: heartbreak, homelessness, reinvention, before reaching cult status in Paris and returning home in unlikely circumstances. word spread from across the continent to the point where Benjamin Clementine's UK live debut took place on national TV, of all places: he played two tracks on Later...With Jools Holland, caused a small storm on Twitter, and Paul McCartney was among the first to congratulate Clementine on an 'amazing' performance. At 6 ft 3 - dressed in his now-trademark overcoat and bare-feet - Clementine cut an extraordinary, puzzling presence. He had hardly, however, come from nowhere, and Benjamin Clementine's debut album offers a fascinating glimpse into that shadowy figure hunched over the piano. Visceral doesn't even begin to describe Clementine's songs, which combine the hurt and danger of Nina Simone, Antony Hegarty's tremulous passion and Laura Mvula's boundary-straddling music.
CD - Jewel Case.
CD - Jewel Case.