Benjamin Clementine — the Ghanaian/British crooner with a soul-stirring voice that sounds like it belongs to Nina Simone’s lost son — is out with the mesmerizing visuals for “Condolence,” the first track of his forthcoming Glorious You EP. The four-track EP will be Clementine’s first project since signing with Virgin EMI Records this past January. The road to major record label status has not been an easy one for the Edmonton native who left home at 17 and decided to head to Paris on a whim at the age of 20 without knowing anyone or having a place to stay. While in Paris, Clementine honed his craft singing on trains to anyone who would listen (watch him performing his take of Nina Simone's "Ain't Got No, I Got Life" on a Parisian metro) until he caught the attention of French electronica producers Lionel Bensemoun and Matthieu Gazier who released Clementine’s debut EP Cornerstone. During his 5-year stay in the city, the self-taught multi-instrumentalist gathered quite a following acquiring the title “la revelation anglaise des Fancos” (“the English revelation of the Francofolies Festival”), but returned to the UK in 2013 to make his TV debut on BBC2’s Later With Jools Holland. Check out the chilling performance of “Nemesis” that he gave on the show.
Riding high after a year of selling out shows and supporting such acts as Cat Power, Woodkid, and Tune-Yards, Clementine is prepping the release of his next project by giving us the first visual taste off his Glorious You EP. The Zack Spiger-directed video for “Condolence” follows Clementine as he journeys bare-foot through the dry, desolate planes of Ireland's west coast. The singer's past struggles and resilient spirit are captured in a black-and-white video that shows the deep-voiced crooner overcoming obstacle after obstacle that stands in the way of him and his destination. Clementine’s unapologetically raw, unrefined voice swells over a pacing piano and howling background vocals as he sings in poetic proses of sending his condolences to fear & insecurities in order to live his life freely and courageously.
Watch Benjamin Clementine's "Condolence" video below and grab his Glorious You EP out August 25 and available for pre-order on iTunes. If you're in Europe check out his tour dates below.
07 Aug - DE, Haldern, Haldern Pop Festival
29 Aug - UK, Larmer Tree Gardens, End Of The Road Festival
31 Aug - NOR, Oslo, Picnic In The Park
06 Sep - NL, Vlieland, Into The Great Wide Open
16 Oct - HUN, Budapest, Cafe Budapest
29 Oct - UK, London, Emmanuel Centre
28 Nov - DE, Heidelberg, Karlstorbahnhof
29 Nov - DE, Cologne, Statdgarten
07 Dec - NL, Rotterdam, Lanteren Venster
08 Dec - NL, Amsterdam, Paradiso
09 Dec - NL, Nijmegen, Doornroosje
