Craig McDean
Benjamin Clementine
Announces New Track ‘Phantom Of Aleppoville’ – Watch Here –
Plus UK & European headline shows –
Inc. London’s Brixton Academy – December 5, 2017
Edmonton singer, songwriter and poet Benjamin Clementine has today unveiled his first new music since being awarded 2015’s Mercury Music Prize for his debut album At Least For Now.Entitled ‘Phantom Of Aleppoville’ the track was written, recorded and produced by Clementine and follows his recent collaboration with Gorillaz on ‘Hallelujah Money’. Clementine has also announced a series of UK & European headline dates for November and December 2017, including London’s Brixton Academy on December 5th. A New York show at Carnegie Hallhas already been announced for October 5.
Accompanied by a video shot by photographer Craig McDean and filmmaker Masha Vasyukova, Clementine composed ‘Phantom Of Aleppoville’ after being affected by the writing of pioneering British psychoanalyst Donald Winicott. He wrote extensively about children who have experienced bullying in the home and at school, discovering that while the trauma was naturally not comparable in scale to that suffered by children displaced by war, its effects followed similar patterns. Seeing in Winicott’s writing a mirror of his own childhood experiences, Clementine chose the title – the “little city of Aleppo” – to symbolise a place where children encounter such bullying. Says Clementine, “Aleppoville is a place where many are bullied if not all, but no one understands nor see why; Phantom.”
Benjamin Clementine released his debut album At Least For Now in January 2015. The album secured Clementine the UK Mercury Prize and in France the ‘Best New Act’ honours at Les Victories de la Musique, whilst in the U.S Clementine featured on the cover of the New York Times, interviewed by David Byrne. Clementine is especially beloved for his emotionally charged live performances. The Guardian, in a five star live-review, describing the artist as “a true original… his intense songs, autobiographical and elliptical as they are, could not conceivably be anyone else.”
UK Dates:
30th Nov Dome Concert Hall Brighton, UK
1st Dec Birmingham Town Hall Birmingham, UK
3rd Dec O2 Academy Leeds, UK
4th Dec The Ritz Manchester, UK
5th Dec Brixton Academy London, UK
6th Dec The Sage Gateshead Gateshead, UK
8th Dec Colston Hall One Bristol, UK
Full European Dates:
12th Nov The October Palace Kiev, Ukraine
13th Nov Izvestia Hall Moscow, Russia
15th Nov The Hall Compensa Vilnius, Lithuania
16th Nov MTP2 Hall Poznan, Poland
18th Nov Elbphilarmonie Hamburg, Germany
19th Nov Philharmonie Munich Munich, Germany
20th Nov Köln Philharmonic Hall Köln, Germany
21st Nov Berlin Philharmonie Berlin, Germany
22nd Nov Konzerthaus Dortmund Dortmund, Germany
25th Nov Cirque Royal Brussels, Belgium
27th Nov Philharmonie Luxembourg Luxembourg
28th Nov De Doelen Rotterdam, Netherlands
30th Nov Dome Concert Hall Brighton, UK
1st Dec Birmingham Town Hall Birmingham, UK
3rd Dec O2 Academy Leeds, UK
4th Dec The Ritz Manchester, UK
5th Dec Brixton Academy London, UK
6th Dec The Sage Gateshead Gateshead, UK
8th Dec Colston Hall One Bristol, UK
18th Dec Arcimboldi Theatre Milan, Italy
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