Rising Dutch singer-songwriter – MICHAEL J. BENJAMIN – has unveiled a new acoustic version of “The Same Again”, ahead of his debut EP (set for release this Autumn). Watch it here: https://youtu.be/__EnyOUoucI
Putting a pensive spin on the radiant and heart-rending ballad, “The Same Again (Acoustic)” sees Michael J. Benjamin prune back the trickling acoustics and shimmering instrumentals as a more hauntingly honest version of the track emerges from beneath.
With the threads of Benjamin’s distinctive Cash-meets-Cohen vocals and pensive approach to storytelling still running through the new cut’s core, he rewinds sepia-tinted memories of his past with a harrowing flair. “As I go walkin’ by the farm sometimes to catch a glimpse of light,” he croons on the track’s contemplative chorus, “As the silence kills me easily and I’m stranded in the night.”
Unfurling as a reflective moment for the singer-songwriter to pause for thought and look back on what could have been, Michael J. Benjamin explains of the track:
“A girl and I used to walk along these farms on the edge of town, then I left for London and when I came back we broke up. After that I used to come back to these seemingly holy farms to find inspiration and tranquillity; to catch a glimpse of light of the moon and relive old memories. Looking back now, it’s the act of not letting go of the past that drove me to write this song. The farms were like a sanctuary, or a relic of better times. Even today it remains a magical place to me.”
Produced by Jon McMullen (Wet Leg, Michael Kiwanuka) at his London studio, “The Same Again (Acoustic) makes for a wistful country-blues record that feels simultaneously nostalgic and refreshing; true to a style that Benjamin is quickly making his own.
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Staking his place as an auspicious new artist to watch, Michael J. Benjamin‘s soul searching songs express a hard-won sense of authority: embracing the world with an engrossing, truth-seeking style of writing which belies his still-tender years.
Like most other millennials, he grew up with the entire history of music readily available at the click of a mouse. Growing up Michael embraced the heroes of old, immersing himself in the works of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash and Paul McCartney, before finding more modern realms of influence in the songbooks of Lana Del Rey, Weyes Blood and Jack Antonoff.
And while many of his musical favourites are American, Michael’s literary influences have a distinctly European flavour with Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud and Hugo all seeping into the way he looks at his art. His songs flourish in a self-made world of creeping dusk — ever-aware of the foreboding, Lynchian darkness which will inevitably follow.
Born in the South Netherlands but raised in Sweden until the age of 16 when his parents moved to Amsterdam, Michael J. Benjamin spent much of his late teens and early twenties travelling around the UK. Playing guitar, piano and harmonica in small venues all over Bristol, London and the Isle of Wight, Michael got his first big break in 2017 when he was invited by the Dutch National Ballet to provide music for “Two and Only”, a pas de deux performed by two male dancers. The piece was awarded Runner Up at the prestigious Prix Benois de la Danse at The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and was later performed with Michael’s accompaniment at the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam in the presence of Bill Clinton, Elton John and Prince Harry.
Michael’s latest offering “The Same Again (Acoustic)” follows his warmly-received debut release “The Deal Has Long Gone Down“, with both tracks taken from his forthcoming debut EP. The self-titled release is due this Autumn, and was produced by Jon McMullen (best known for his work with Wet Leg and Michael Kiwanuka).
“The Deal Has Long Gone Down” was supported by RTE Radio 1 in Ireland, and attracted praise from a range of key online tastemakers including Eat This Music, the most radicalist and Louder Than War with the latter praising the track for its “funereal country blues born of the same dirt track as Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave”, and enthusing Benjamin’s rich, deep vocals bring a gravitas and world weariness to the track in excess of his years.”
Having recently returned from a contemporary music festival in Rome and off the back of his debut headline show in London, Michael J. Benjamin also impressed audiences with a slot at The Great Escape earlier in the Spring.
MICHAEL J BENJAMIN – NEW TRACK: “THE SAME AGAIN (ACOUSTIC)”
OUT NOW, VIA RUBYWORKS
WATCH ON YOUTUBE HERE || STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE
NEW EP – COMING THIS AUTUMN
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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