BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH
MCD presents
BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH
+ guests
“Beautiful” – Sunday Times Culture
“Brit-folk’s pretty new voice” – NME
“A rare talent” – Big Issue
UK singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich has just announced details of his much anticipated return to Ireland Upstairs at Whelans on July 20th
At just 21 years of age, Ben’s songwriting has a complex quizzical innocence while the songs themselves inspired by a childhood listening to Rolling Stones, Nina Simone and Bob Dylan, echo the enchanting wordplay of Feist and the delicate elegance of Elliott Smith.
Work on Ben’s debut album ‘Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’ started when he was just a teenager and taught himself to play the guitar. Like the previous EPs the album is produced by Ian Grimble (Mumford & Sons, Manic Street Preachers). It’s an understated ten track masterpiece that showcases the fragile elegance of Ben’s voice, combined with simple, inviting guitar lines, delicate melodies and poetic lyrics with graceful charm.
The album follows on from the success of 2010‘s ‘A Million Miles Out’ EP and this year’s ‘Pictures’ EP, which have placed him as one of the most exciting upcoming talents in the UK. The success of the ‘A Million Miles Out’ EP led Jo Whiley to invite Ben to play at her ‘Little Noise Session’ gig at the Union Chapel as well as making the lead track ‘Atlas Hands’ one of her tracks of 2010. Ben was also invited to perform on Dermot O’Leary’s Live Sessions and his cover of Arcade Fire’s ‘Rebellion’ from the session has now been downloaded over 30,000 times. His online success also includes over 400,000 video views to date on YouTube. ‘Pictures’, the lead track from the 2nd EP, led to backing from Radio 1 and XFM with the title track awarded Zane Lowe’s Hottest Record In The World and Greg James’s ROTW.
TICKETS:
€13.50 incl booking fee available from WAV Tickets [Lo-Call 1890 200 078] & Ticketmaster.