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BEN WATT announces first solo album for 30 years, 'Hendra' to be released 14th April 2014 on Unmade Road through Caroline International
Stream the title track here: https://soundcloud.com/ben_watt/ben-watt-01-hendra-mastered/s-s57sd
UK Live dates in February and April
After twenty years in Everything But The Girl, and ten years as a respected DJ and record label boss of Buzzin' Fly, Ben Watt announced last year he was parking everything to complete two long-planned creative solo projects.
The first - published today by Bloomsbury - is his long-awaited second book, 'Romany and Tom', a dazzling portrait of his parents. The second is 'Hendra', his first solo album for over thirty years, released on his own new imprint, Unmade Road through Caroline International on April 14th. It is, in Ben's words, 'simply a folk-rock record in an electronic age'.
Recorded in London and Berlin, the music is a meeting of worlds: languid folk, distorted rock and fizzing electronics; in part a result of the album's two central collaborators, ex-Suede guitarist, Bernard Butler, and Berlin-based producer Ewan Pearson.
The album also includes one other unexpected stellar cameo - Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, who adds plangent slide guitar and backing vocals on 'The Levels'.
How does it feel following up a debut album thirty-one years later?
'Sometimes I laugh and think it could be the definition of the difficult second album; it has certainly been a long time coming,' Ben says. 'Some might see it as a strange fork in the road after Buzzin' Fly, but everything for me has always been about finding a truthful and vivid point of connection with an audience - whether on dancefloors or in folk clubs. Words, beats and notes - it's all we have. It's just a question of playing them in what feels like the right order at the right time, and at the moment, 'Hendra' just feels right.'
Ben will be performing songs from 'Hendra' accompanied by Bernard Butler at two intimate and sold out London shows at St Pancras Church on 23rd and 24th February. The pair play more UK dates in April.
Feb 23 - London, St Pancras Church – SOLD OUT
Feb 24 - London, St Pancras Church – SOLD OUT
April 15 Sheffield, Greystones
April 16 Newcastle, Cluny 2
April 17 Liverpool, East Village Arts Club
April 18 Hebden Bridge, Trades Club
April 19 Cambridge, Junction 2
April 21 Nottingham, Bodega
April 22 Guildford, Boileroom
April 23 Norwich, Arts Centre
www.benwatt.com
www.twitter.com/ben_watt
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