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Apr 16, 2013
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Benjamin Francis Leftich - Pictures
:: May 9, 2011 :: by Karly Gombert
With a name like Benjamin Francis Leftwich, you’d expect an indie-rock cookie cut-out, complete with pretentious “originality,” and a sound “I doubt you’ve heard before,” however, Pictures gives you quite the opposite.
Leftwich’s newest album is nowhere near short on talent, but he takes an alternate avenue, striking simplicity and softness instead of the usual aloof lo-fi. At first, the opening track “Pictures” sounds like any other acoustic riff, docile and wandering with and undertone of sentimentality, but it’s the vocals that truly make the album.
Similar to the unrefined vocals heard from Bon Iver and Silversun Pickups, Leftwhich uses his breathy rasp to compliment the slight twang of acoustics that he so casually pairs with, what seems like, the perfect percussion. “Sophie” is perhaps the most experimental, incorporating a mist of, what seems to be, tribal drums.
Pictures is definitely worth the listen.
Listen to "Pictures":