Ben Boden - Mona Lisa Smile

I don't normally write about pop per se (except for the kind of pop that is now 'pop' because it wasn't originally 'pop'. Bleurgh.) However, after Ben contacted us, I put this post up today, mainly because I love a good juxtaposition (see last post).
Singer-songwriter Ben Boden appeared on Northampton's BBC Introducing last year and has been working hard in London since. The track shows off his delicate voice that has reassuring flaws and communicates his earnest balladry well. It seems to root from a simple voice and busking guitar song but
could be easily translated and amplified by a dance producer.
Fellow East Midlander, Leila Keeney appears and delights in the middle-eight with two lines of her wrenching songbird trill. One to watch there too methinks.
Ben won't sound out of place next to The Script and The Fray but wonder if the likes of Sam Smith and his predecessors have changed the singer-songwriter landscape in the UK for good. We'll see the term 'singer-producer' used more I'm sure, notably the recent media coverage of Låpsley.
There's still a market out there though and Ben's sense of self-identity should really help. We wish him the best of luck.

'Mona Lisa Smile' is available via Ben's website now.