Music star is fan of Scots sounds as he heads to city

Scots fan Benjamin on reaching album No.3 before hitting 30

BENJAMIN Francis Leftwich has a real connection with Scotland.

The singer-songwriter cites The Blue Nile as his ‘all time favourite band’.

On top of that, he includes Twin Atlantic as his friends and has shared the stage with Ricky Ross from Deacon Blue.

“I’ve had some really good shows up there”, he explains.

“I played there about six-years ago, obviously we’ve been out there and done T in the Park and these kind of shows, and again Glasgow’s the kind of city where everyone’s like ‘that’ll be intense’ you know what I mean?

“But, they’re really into their music and some of my favourite bands are from Scotland.

“The list is endless, like Biffy Clyro, Twin Atlantic.

“I’m tight with the Twin Atlantic guys, it’s always nice to see those guys.

“Seeing Lewis Capaldi and Aaron Smith coming up and doing their thing is great.

“I’ve been working a lot with an artist called Christy O’Donnell, who’s a Scottish singer-songwriter from Glasgow who’s great.”

He adds: “I’ve played Stereo, the Arches, the O2.

“What’s that bar, that legendary bar that’s opposite the O2 that everyone always goes to? Nice & Sleazy’s.

“And it’s really sad of course but one of my all time favourite bands ever is Frightened Rabbit and they’re a lot of people’s heroes and I had the pleasure of getting to know Scott a bit over the years and he was someone I really looked up to and stayed in touch with. His music is just so beautiful.

“I ended up weirdly kind of linking with Deacon Blue, who are like a legendary band, cause they were touring with one of my guitarists, they used him when they did their acoustic tours.

“And me and Ricky ended up meeting up and writing some songs and then a year or two ago I went and did a show and I played the guitar and Ricky sang Real Gone Kid at the Glasgow Concert Hall and I felt a bit like an intruder or something, but it was amazing.

“That’s almost like an anthem up there and I was really welcomed in and I’ve always felt lucky to have good connections up in Scotland. Roddy Hart, who runs the key sessions, has always been in the cut.”

The 29-year-old folk indie singer from York will be releasing his highly anticipated third album Gratitude next week.

It comes following the release of the title track last month and summer EP, I Am With You, which ushered in a sonic era for Leftwich.

His third record will also follow the acclaimed studio albums Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm and After The Rain, released in 2011 and 2016 respectively.

Gratitude builds on the foundations laid in the EP, and sees Leftwich bring more electronic elements into play, and darker, intricately layered production, whilst still maintaining the raw emotion that has resonated throughout his work to date.

He explains: “For me, it’s one of the realest albums that I’ve made so far. I feel really awake to all the messages on it.

“I feel like, as I’ve shared in previous interviews, I always wanted to make three albums in my 20s and I feel like this is the perfect combination.

“The title Gratitude kind of summarises where my head’s at with thinking about my career so far, I’m pleased that people seem to really love it.

“I always felt that, especially after putting out the first album, I felt that this was my moment of finishing my teenage years and approaching my twenties and doing that, starting touring and all that kind of stuff.

“I just felt like the three albums, one at 21, one at 26, and one at 29, the timings of them were a good spread of three different perspectives on the same thing which was my experience of life and love and ups and downs, and waviness, and to do them at those ages and those times I think allowed me to have, like I just said, different perspectives on the same thing.”

To the surprise of most people, Leftwich isn’t all about staying in his lane.

The performer cites Rihanna and Beyonce as some of his favourite artists to listen to.

“People that listen to my music wouldn’t imagine that I spend a lot of my time listening to Rhianna and Beyonce, and music that left-field snobby music fans would say is trivial”, he explains.

“Really, the message in a lot of that music, pop music, like Rhianna, Beyonce, Drake, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, the essence of a lot of it is love, and confusion around love which is not trivial, and it’s the most human thing possible, which in my opinion is why that music does so well.

“Not to mention the great melody writing and the great production.

“I don’t look down at any music, I love it all and I work with a lot of new artist and I write a lot of pop music.

“I think my own music is pop music, it just so happens that my instrument of choice is an acoustic guitar, so it kind of gets put in a box, but for my own stuff, releasing it under my own name and going out and touring it, and sharing an extension of my spirit, I just want it to feel honest and real to me.”

He adds: “I love hip-hop and rap, I’m influenced by the energy.

“I love the lyrics but I can’t really relate on a lot of levels.

“I think being a bit more aware of some of those sounds and working with producers who are more in that world, Beatriz (Artola) who did a lot of the album, has worked with some big names in the hip-hop realm and she was also really into singer-songwriters so that’s why she was a really great person to work with, she’s worked with a broad wave of artists.”

•Be■jami■ Francis Leftwich will be performing at Glasgow St Luke’s on March 25.