Benjamin Clementine | At Least for Now

After a bunch of sterling EPs, East London native Benjamin Clementine has released his debut album 'At Least for Now'.

This album is top shelf goods.

The compositions of his songs are rich and deeply engaging and his performance with both piano and voice are nothing short of exquisite.

This is a guy who found his feet busking on the streets and trains of Paris; his style evolving into some unconventional blend of cabaret, soul, folk and opera. He pulls this off with serious character and a heavy dose of swagger. There is something extremely theatrical about the flavor but nothing overblown. Clementine is raw and real. The songs move deftly from quirky to rousing, from fun and light to deeply moving. While they are built mostly around his voice and and playful piano-work, he does use a palette of strings and light percussion to add a little more color to this essentially one man show.

I won't break the songs down. You'd do best just to give them some time yourself. My personal favorites are Adios and Condolence but really, there's not a weak track on this album.

If we were using stars to rate, this gets all of them.