I was introduced to Clementine¡¯s music through a friend who insisted I check him out. I was floored, and immediately asked him to perform at a music festival that I curated in London last year. He took the stage in a long coat, no shirt or shoes on, and played the piano perched on a high stool, almost standing. ... a far cry from rush hour in a station of the Métro. And yet, he told me there is something almost harder about formal concerts.~ David Byrne, Unlocking the Mystery of Benjamin Clementine (March 2, 2016; New York Times Style Magazine)
It was impressive enough that Benjamin Clementine won 2015¡¯s Mercury Prize, the $30,000 award for the best recording by a British or Irish act, with his debut full-length album. It¡¯s even more impressive that ¡°At Least for Now¡± is unlike anything else in pop music at the moment. The best shorthand description is perhaps ¡°Nina Simone singing the Leonard Cohen songbook,¡± for Clementine¡¯s unapologetically literary lyrics are delivered in a strong but idiosyncratic tenor.His most recent appearance of note came earlier this year, on the first single from the Gorillaz new album, a political track titled "Hallelujah Money."
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Alternate title, quoting from Clementine: "Where you¡¯re from shapes you, but you can actually do whatever you want."
posted by filthy light thief at 12:47 PM on May 12, 2017