Benjamin Clementine's 'At Least For Now' LP is emotive, moving and at times completely crushing.

At the age of 19, Benjamin Clementine was sleeping rough on the streets  of Paris, earning money through busking on the metro, and getting away without paying for a ticket because commuters enjoyed his music - and forced security to let him stay. Seven years on, and amongst the commuters Clementines' admirers now include the likes of Paul McCartney and Björk, his debut album 'At Least For Now' is a fitting documentation of his underdog story.

Whilst he clearly has an ear for avant-garde (Then I Heard A Bachelor's Cry), Clementine's debut consists mostly of the dry, heartbreaking piano compositions that have served him well since the days of hiding his keyboard under hostel beds. His smooth, tenor voice cuts through his melancholy composition 'The People And I", whereas 'Winston's Churchill's Boy" takes on an unexpected almost slow hip-hop turn as Clementine poignantly recites "Where is your family?/Where are your loved ones, someone uttered". The catalyst for my interest in Clementine in the first place is 'Cornerstone', a frantic and deeply moving ballad in which he autobiographically takes on homelessness. 

Benjamin Clementine is one of the most necessary songwriters in the country

17.5/20

By Marty Hill