And I Have Been - Benjamin Clementine
Benjamin Clementine
is an alarmingly talented British, singer, songwriter, poet, multi-instrumentalist, and even now an actor. And I Have Been is his 3rd studio project following 2017's I Tell A Fly and his Mercury Prize-winning debut At Least For Now. In the Instagram post announcing the record Clementine specifically stated that And I Have Been isn't intended as his third official studio album, which has apparently already been written and recorded and will be released sometime soon.
Review by Lav:
While it was slightly disappointing to read that And I Have Been may not be the record I was anticipating from Ben, or to put it more honestly, the record I've been craving for 5 years now, I was still pretty confident that anything he put out would be good. That sort of wavered when the singles both individually and as a whole failed to really blow me away but I think I see now that the project is meant as more of a stepping stone in a literal way.
Firstly compared to other Benjamin Clementine records there is more that I would consider or just not as strong support directly to the record's core development on And I Have Been. Difference is a glorified interlude that doesn't really need to be there and while there's a bit more of a song on Gypsy BC I think you could make the argument that it fails to really justify its own existence as well. Last Movement Of Hope is a pure piano piece that I'll admit I like more than I anticipated. It really does have a strong sense of momentum to it right up until the point where it starts to gentle taper off at the end. While I do like it, I think that dedicating 6 minutes of the record to this song that features no vocals from Ben at all is still a strange call that doesn't help it reinforce itself.
Weakened served as the B-Side to one of the record's singles and frankly it still kind of sounds like it, failing to dig out any real space for itself within the tracklist. I could say pretty much the exact same thing about Recommence, which serves as an underwhelming closing track after the record makes a decently compelling shift late in its runtime. The record also has a song that does something I didn't even think was possible, push Benjamin's voice a little too far. That song is Delighted which is a great piece of songwriting with a real gem of a hook but I think Clementine might have bitten off a bit more than he can chew with this performance. Despite his brilliant singing voice the reaching here feels very awkward and comes VERY unfortunately timed with a lyric about upping the vocals.
Thankfully there is actually still quite a bit to like on the album. This record features more short and conventionally developing songs than either of Clementine's first two records do but he still succeeds within those bounds. Opening track Residue has a great instrumental with a stripped-down combo of bass and strings that slowly work their way in but it's much more focused on Ben's storytelling and dominating vocals. His voice calling out into the distance is completely intoxicating and serves as a wonderful start to the record.
Atonement emerged as a big highlight among the deep cuts and it's a similarly dark song. The best part of the track is the little claps, chimes, and ultimately group vocals that just soar in through the darkness. They make for a pretty unforgettable finale on the track. Later on, during the record's final stretch it has a moment where it shifts to something much brighter and bouncier out of nowhere starting with Auxiliary. It's another instrumental I like a lot with one of the most infectious piano performances that pair perfectly with the methodical clapping for one of the record's brighter cuts. Lovelustreman continues that energy despite getting a vocal performance from Benjamin that is still achingly earnest. The combination of the bassline and that sweet little key phrase on the hook result in a genuinely catchy song.
Benjamin Clementine's own warnings about this project prevented me from dumping all the anticipation and expectations I've been building up directly onto it, which is good because it feels like more of a mixtape or a compilation than his next definitive artistic statement. Despite that I still think this is a solid collection of songs with a number of highlights and very little in the way of complaints. Even though there are moments that maybe don't reinforce a greater story or musical shift, I still came away from this pretty satisfied. Though I'm even more excited than I was before for what Clementine has in store for us next, it's becoming one of my most anticipated new releases of 2023 as a result. 7/10
For more singer-songwriters check out my review of Bjork's Fossora here
