Benjamin Clementine, Barbican Hall - music review

This unlikely star in the making has obvious gifts and limitless potential, says John Aizlewood
John Aizlewood26 June 2015

Barefoot, clad in a never-to-be-removed grubby mac and prone to incoherent mumbling between songs, Benjamin Clementine is a most unlikely star in the making. Having spent years down and out in Paris, the upwardly mobile Londoner is seemingly fated to be feted.

He crooned like Andy Williams; wailed like Antony Hegarty and oozed the feral air of Finley Quaye. Musically mercurial, Clementine was as at ease with Tom Waits-style angularity as with the more theatrical narrative of Stephen Sondheim. Even with the intermittent assistance of bass, drum and cello, a near-two-hour set was too long for a man with just one album under his belt, and a perfunctory cover of Nick Drake’s River Man smacked of padding.

Despite the wonderfully triumphant Condolence and the hook-swamped London, Clementine was no stranger to mannered meandering. He may have been keen to play the outsider card, but he was nobody’s fool and when an attention-seeking heckler bellowed “London loves you”; he snapped back: “I hate London.”

Latest music reviews

1/168

All the same, when Gone re-visited Edmonton, Clementine’s childhood stomping ground, the sense of loss was heartbreaking.

His gifts are obvious, his potential is limitless, but there is still work to be done. The bottom line? Benjamin Clementine can be special.

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in