Benjamin Clementine: From Paris Metro to World Stage

Soundcheck | Nov 9, 2015

On November 20, 2015, Benjamin Clementine won the prestigious Mercury Prize for Album of the Year. 

There was a time, not so long ago, when a British musician using Churchill's words to make a pop song might've made Paul McCartney cringe. This is no longer that time. The first words on Benjamin Clementine's full-length debut, At Least For Now, are a repurposing of Sir Winston's famous "The Few" speech, inverted to illustrate Clementine's nomadic life. Until recently, Clementine was a homeless busker in the tunnels of Paris, honing his nimble and articulate wordplay and blues-tinted piano chords. But a change of fortune landed Clementine on one of the U.K.'s most beloved music TV programs, which led to acclaim from the likes of Bjork and Macca, and now—a full-length record. Benjamin Clementine visits the Soundcheck studio to talk about the story thus far, and to play some of the gripping material from At Least For Now. 

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