On April 29th, Ben Watt, also known as one half of Everything But The Girl and founder of Buzzin' Fly Records, will release Hendra, his first album in more than 30 years.
Yesterday, USA Today's Pop Candy blog premiered "Nathaniel", the third track to be released from the album. Whitney Matheson called Hendra an "impressive solo effort" and said it "reflects more of Watt's folk and rock influences than electronic beats, and I think few fans will complain."
The Line of Best Fit recently published an advance review and said Hendra is "a record full of honest and endearing song writing." Writer Harry Fletcher continues and says the album is "poignant yet unsentimental, and completely overwhelming; you'd need a heart of stone to resist it's impact."
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The Onion's AV Club premiered the "gorgeous track" "Spring" and said "Hendra is his first solo album since North Marine Drive, and while it recaptures a similar vibe of minimal, soulfully jazzy folk, it also leaves room for the majestic, almost Big Star-like ballad."
Recently, Indiewire premiered the video for the album's title track "Hendra," which you can view HERE.
Recorded in London and Berlin, the music is a meeting of worlds: languid folk, distorted rock and buzzing 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."
Also to be released this year is Watt's memoir "Romany and Tom", which will be published by Bloomsbury Press in North America this June. The Financial Times called the book "a poignant, life-affirming work" while novelist John Niven said "Forget Morrissey: 'Romany and Tom' is the most beautiful, compelling memoir by a musician you'll read for a very long time.”
Ben Watt and Bernard Butler will head to the U.S. this April for select dates in New York and Los Angeles. DJ-ing aside, these are Watt's first ever solo dates in the US.
US Tour Dates:
4/1: New York, NY - Joe's Pub
4/2: Brooklyn, NY - Rough Trade
4/4: Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
Track List:
1) Hendra
2) Forget
3) Spring
4) Golden Ratio
5) Matthew Arnold’s Field
6) The Gun
7) Nathaniel
8) The Levels
9) Young Man’s Game
10) The Heart is a Mirror
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