The first thing you notice is the voice. Haunting and sublimely other-worldly, it stops you in your tracks with the gentlest of touches, proving that sometimes the intoxicating simplicity of a single voice is all you need to make an impact. With Benjamin Francis Leftwich, that hypnotic, breathy voice is the reason for it all. It exposes his soul before anyone even hears the lyrics, letting the listener in to Benjamin’s most intimate world in a way no interview or video ever could. It is the essence of his being, laid bare without regret for us to share. Not just your average singer-songwriter then.

Indeed, there’s nothing ordinary about this startling new talent, who is just 21 and has yet to release his first album but who sounds like he already has a lifetime of experiences, hopes and shattered dreams invested in each song. He has, in fact, been waiting for this moment for years. At the age of 10, Yorkshire born Benjamin first stared playing guitar, ditching his teacher after just a couple of lessons and teaching himself from the records that inspired him instead. Growing up on a diet of Rolling Stones and Nina Simone, Benjamin discovered Bob Dylan and Elliot Smith in his teens and never looked back. By 15, he was writing songs and playing with a band on the York music scene, before starting work as a solo artist at 18 and beginning to write what now makes up his forthcoming debut album ‘Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’.

“A lot of the songs on there I wrote when I was about 17 or 18,” Benjamin confirms. “I really wanted to get their sound right and I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to writing and recording. I’ve been working on them ever since really.”

The breathtaking results were well worth waiting for. Inspired by the likes of Ryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen, Arcade Fire and Sigur Ros, Benjamin took his time creating a sound that is truly his, that reveals a little more of himself with every single breath and moment. It’s a sound that gives him the confidence to label himself simply, unpretentiously, as a singer-songwriter, untroubled by the confusingly negative connotations the term now seems associated with.

“That’s what I am,” he shrugs. “I don’t think I’m folk, nor am I straight indie. I write songs and I play guitar and I think it’s varied on the album and it will be in the future. That’s what I feel like I’m making. The title singer-songwriter is appropriate. The term is usually applied to people like James Morrison and James Blunt, but really they play down-the-line pop. It’s people like Elliot Smith, Bob Dylan and John Lennon that can be considered true singer-songwriters.”

Unsurprisingly then, it made sense that Benjamin would release his material under his own full name. No gimmicks, no clever pseudonyms. This is him. Pure and simple.

“A couple of people seem to have an issue with it but it doesn’t bother me.
There was one journalist who spent the whole interview expecting me to be an army major with a monocle because of my name. Obviously, I’m not.”

Name obsessives aside, Benjamin has already been stunned by the reaction to the material he has released so far, which has truly taken him by surprise. After releasing his debut EP ‘A Million Miles Out’ at the end of 2010, he quickly found himself on the most prestigious playlists around as Radio 1DJs Zane Lowe and Fearne Cotton fell for Benjamin’s assuming charms. He was also added to XFM’s Evening Playlist, while Jo Whiley made Benjamin’s track ‘Atlas Hands’ one of her Tracks of 2010 and he was also asked to record a live session for Radio 2’s Dermot O’Leary. Benjamin’s version of ‘Rebellion’ by Arcade Fire has since been downloaded over 30,000 times.

“I didn’t know people were going to have that reaction,” Benjamin says. “The first time it happened I was walking to a friend’s house in York. I got a text from a mate saying ‘your song is on Radio 1!’ and I texted him back saying ‘Fuck off!’ I thought it was a joke. I thought the EP might sell a couple of hundred copies and that would be good enough. I think there’s been an element of word-of-mouth with it, and I’m happy people are listening to my music.”

More recently this year, Benjamin’s stunning second EP, ‘Pictures’, has led to a tour support slot with Noah & The Whale, while the lead track from the EP has been made Hottest Record In The World on Zane Lowe’s radio show and been added to the Radio 1 ‘In New Music We Trust’ playlist. In summer, at long last, Benjamin’s debut album ‘Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’ will be released, preceded by his first single proper ‘Box of Stones’. Typically understated, it pairs the fragile elegance of Benjamin’s stunning voice with simple, inviting guitar lines, heart-breakingly delicate melodies and lyrics strained with emotion.

“A couple of people have described some of my songs as love songs but there’s a level of ambiguity in them I think. I try not to ever focus on a central theme. I just bring together inspiration from around me and put it all into a song. Some songs are more direct, but there’s always that level of ambiguity.”

There is at least one thing that seems certain though. By the end of summer, many, many more people will stumble upon a new singer-songwriter to believe in when they’re stopped in their tracks by Benjamin’s startlingly intimate voice. The unmistakeable sound of this year’s most intriguing new talent.

Benjamin’s Official Website