Ben L'Oncle Soul | News | Infotext: Ben. - Addicted To You

 

20.10.20         Berlin              Gretchen
21.10.20         Düsseldorf       Zakk
22.10.20         Hamburg         Mojo

 

Ben L’Oncle Soul, Frankreichs erfolgreicher Soul-Singer-Songwriter, macht jetzt einen Punkt und nennt sich ab sofort nur noch „Ben.“ Aber keine Sorge, seine Musik hat er dagegen noch deutlich verfeinert. Das Resultat: lässiger Soul/R’n’B/HipHop-Groove made in France. Auf Blue Note Records ist dieser Genregrenzen-Durchbrecher bestens aufgehoben.

The debut album from Ben L’Oncle Soul was released ten years ago, revealing an extraordinary soul-infused singer who sprung from nowhere – or, more specifically, from the school of fine arts in Tours. Since then, his superb voice has enraptured audiences in hundreds of venues. But Oncle Soul is the past. Now he is just Ben., no longer the same character he created at the start of his musical career. “I’d formed a really strong bond with the public and I thought it was finally time to get even closer, to move on to a more direct relationship,” he explains. Ben. is a timeless nickname. Simple, clear. And lacking the nostalgic resonance of an uncle, however soulful! The good news is that this isn’t merely a name change; his sound has evolved as well. On Addicted to You, Ben. tears down the boundaries between R’n’B and hip hop, goes jazzy with a pop vibe, echoes of soul and reggae here and there. An album that reflects his musical passions as a teenager, from Method Man to Lauryn Hill, Wu Tang Clan to Robert Glasper’s jazz and 90s R’n’B artists like Usher, TLC, Maxwell and Aaliyah.

It all began six years ago in New York. On that fateful day, he had a meeting with Light Minds, a pair of directors creating a huge amount of buzz. As he sat in the car taking him to Brooklyn, he spotted an agency whose logo was two trees sharing the same branches. It inspired the first song written for the album, which became the opening track Two Trees: “It’s the only one I created like that and it sets the mood for Addicted to You. It suggests rootedness, two seeds that fall side by side, two trees that grow and live their lives together. Instead of making things difficult by looking on the other side of the world, why not look closer to home?”

Addicted to You is an unmistakeable call to love, a magic potion. His decision to feature eleven tracks a playful nod to the one-plus-one equation. Especially since, despite his decision to produce this album alone, Ben. wanted to work with new people he encountered in the most spontaneous of ways. After recording and performing various Frank Sinatra songs for Under my Skin (2016), he put out an appeal on social media. Anyone with a good sound was invited to try their luck. He received over 300 songs in three days. He then had to turn the tap off and make a choice: “We listened to everything blind, and very quickly came up with a selection. The album is the fruit of the ones that captivated us instantly, regardless of their genre.” Bowled over by a melody, rhythm or arrangement, Ben. put his trust in several songs, resulting in an eclectic track-list from several different writers and beatmakers. Twigg, for instance, hails from the Toronto electro scene while Bastien Cabezon, from Bordeaux, has a background as a drummer, playing for artists including Theo Lawrence. Then there’s Gunnar Ellwanger, who made a name for himself with Parisian folk outfit Gunwood, and guitarist Thomas Broussard, one of the only guest artists he already knew: “We’re all from the same generation, all obsessed with what black music has produced over the past few decades.” A passion that comes across on the album. In the Paris studio where Ben. spent two years working, the instrumentalists are from the world of jazz while the rhythms are rooted in hip hop.

After the inaugural Two Trees comes Next to You. Written during his wife’s pregnancy, the track focuses on fatherhood and was designed as a duet. Yuna was the obvious choice for vocals, with “her fragile voice, crystal clear but possessing real strength.” Another guest is none other than IAM, who feature on All my Life, a track that talks about passion for music as much as for a woman: “The track is the last piece of the puzzle. When I went to my label to let them hear the album, I bumped into IAM who I hadn’t seen for ten years! We hugged each other – and the result is the track recorded between Paris and Marseille.” The third collaboration is with Jamaican artist Samory I on Call Me, where synthesized R’n’B is served up with a reggae garnish – an instant classic.

While I Love this Game puns on the notions of playing and of sport – because Ben. is a basketball fan – The Best insists on the importance of confidence “in yourself, but also in other people. It’s a luxury, the basis of all relationships.” Love is portrayed in its many facets, from the poetic imagery of You’re All I Need to the sexual manifesto of I Just Want You. Then there’s Addicted, “the album’s strongest melody,” according to Ben. “It’s a declaration which describes the need to be reassured and an addiction to others, whether it’s your partner or your public.” His anger at a betrayal experienced by a friend is expressed in I Don’t Wanna Go, but then there is the happy release of Let it Go: “You have to stop protecting yourself when there’s no risk. Absorb nirvana and believe we can live it on earth.” As he sings on one track, why take your raincoat when it’s sunny outside? And certainly when you listen to Addicted to You, the sky suddenly seems much clearer. Ben. and his magic are back!

Uwe Kerkau Promotion, Tel: 02206 – 80007
u.kerkau@uk-promotion.de

Media Promotion (Promotion Süd, West & Nord)
Rosita Falke
info@rosita-falke.de, Tel: 040 – 413 545 05

Musicforce
Anja Sziedat (Promotion Berlin / Ost)
anja.musicforce@gmail.com, Tel: 030 – 419 59 615, Mobil: 0177 – 611 5675