Send "Benjamin Francis Leftwich " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 A fey singer-songwriter from York, Benjamin Francis Leftwich is among the latest in a long line of acoustic musicians to gain mainstream acceptance in the U.K. Given the weakness of music sales these days, the ascent of his début album to No. 35 on the U.K. album chart over the summer appears to represent a major triumph for alternative music. Similarly, the singer’s largely sold-out tour around the country looks to be the emerging of a real talent before our eyes. With any luck, however, the U.S. release of Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm will again draw attention to what has been forgotten or ignored in Leftwich’s inexorable and well-funded rise to the top – that his songs aren’t very good.Sure, Leftwich has his outward persona all figured out. His publicity photos have him strolling through corn fields in a hoodie looking morose, and he insists on touring without the backing band used on the album because he “prefers it”, just a man and a guitar strumming out into an unfeeling world hooked on The X Factor (oh yes, he comes out against The X Factor). But for all these crowd-pleasing appearances, Leftwich must still be judged on the quality of his songs – and it is these which simply do not in any way justify the attention the man has received. Few young artists given the opportunity to release an album-length statement would use that chance to put out so slight and tawdry a record. A hardcore punk band might get out a magnum opus in 31 minutes, but in the case of Leftwich’s approximation of folk it is simply evidence of a lack of ideas. Augmented only by fairly minimalist drums and a little electric guitar for “atmosphere”, these ten songs are about the playing of acoustic guitar. It is a major issue, then, that Leftwich simply does nothing of interest with his favoured instrument – frankly his playing is average at best. Moreover, his one-paced and one-dimensional songs are in all cases consistently weak in comparison with his contemporaries, which is to say the Mumford & Sons, Laura Marlings and Alessi’s Arks of this world. The bar for this kind of music has been raised; Leftwich has not noticed....full text |
| Guardian |
| The title "singer-songwriter" brings to mind a multitude of horrors: James Blunt cooing about beauty, James Morrison crooning about "something", Jack Johnson wooing ladies with banana pancakes. Benjamin Francis Leftwich bravely reappropriates the term, employing his imagination as a defence against the risk of sinking into platitudes. Box of Stones and Stole You Away pick up seafaring themes, Snowship conjures a Faustian dilemma and Butterfly Culture hides sexual tension and religious questioning behind sylvan fantasia. In the latter, a looped guitar motif plays homage to Ryan Adams's version of Wonderwall, while the album's double-tracked vocals recall the wispy romanticism of Elliott Smith. Leftwich is not yet as candid or creative as these peers in his approach to the big universals of God, love and deception. But his debut album sets out in their direction, which saves him from being branded another Blunt for now, at least....full text |
| Bbc |
| These days, picking up an acoustic guitar must be an intimidating thing. With the likes of Bon Iver, Laura Marling and Fleet Foxes emerging in the last few years, melodic acoustic music is a very crowded party. Then again, with the heritage of acoustic songwriters stretching back from Elliott Smith to Nick Drake and beyond, it probably always has been. In such a well-ploughed field, new artists practically have to spout fireworks to stand out. Such is the challenge that lies before 21-year-old Benjamin Francis Leftwich with his debut LP, Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm. The York-based singer-songwriter has certainly garnered the requisite attention, with two well-received EPs in late 2010 and early 2011, not to mention a popular cover of Arcade Fire’s Rebellion (Lies). But how does Leftwich’s debut proper stack up with his many talented peers? At first, everything seems in order. Opener Pictures exudes prettiness with a simple plucked guitar line accompanied by Leftwich’s whispery voice, while Box of Stones opens up into a delicate, violin-backed chorus. But as the album progresses, soft guitar following soft guitar and hushed vocal stacked on hushed vocal, it gradually dawns that prettiness might be the only trick up its sleeve. The sheer repetition of tone is an almost insurmountable problem here, each track fading into the next with little to separate them. Leftwich’s songs have been described as melancholic, but in reality there’s little to no emotional pull in any direction. The album’s lyrics provoke an equally ambivalent response, wafting vaguely from broad generalities to cloying sentimentality ("Hope you find what you’re looking for / So your heart is warm forever more," he trills on Shine)....full text |
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