Ben Calvert & The Swifts
Birmingham, England, United Kingdom | INDIE
Music
Press
“Haunting, heart-bruising tales bitterly stumble into each other as if played by a meth-ed up, homeless Johnny Marr. The dark humour and stark honesty of Ben Calvert is paralysing, and charmingly so.”
The Fly. - The Fly
“Flee is a soft and delicious slice of near nakedly drawn early Marr-esque musings, that in truth is quite perfect for these sultry days. Beyond that the only thing you need know is that you ought to investigate Ben Calvert further for yourself.”
Losing Today - Losing Today
"A booty bag of avid odes to poppers, kids and wonderboys; he's an understated emancipator of lyrical wisdom."
Plan-B. - Plan B
"Bruised romanticism...Ben's Cohen-esque, Smithsian melancholy enchants the building audience."
The Fly - The Fly
"Finely crafted songwriting" Metro. - Metro
"Resurrects the mad ghosts of Nico and Nick Drake" Virtual Festivals. - Virtual Festivals
“Bittersweet songs about lost love, love; defenestrated is a heart warmingly beautiful collection of songs. It’s like being told some bad news while the informer is smiling sweetly. It is hard not to fall in love with these songs.”
antifolk.co.uk - antifolk.co.uk
"There's something supernatural about Ben Calvert's voice when it's stripped bare, moving around the speakers as though the tape operator is running it through his fingers rather than round the capstan. It evokes a melancholy air and spooked atmosphere, but it's his heart that delivers. The Leafy Underground is mesmerising."
Logo. - Logo
Discography
Everybody Loves Lucy (Single, BoJu101 2011)
The Broken Family DaySaver, (LP Bearos073, 2008)
love;defenestrated, (Single, Bearos057, 2005)
The Leafy Underground (LP, Bearos045, 2003)
the state of travel (Single, Bearos020, 2001)
The songs 'Hours Fall' and 'Meet Me 'Mongst The Leaves' have had recent live radio airplay on Radio 2.
Photos
Bio
Clockwork clowns! A weak strongman! A ringmaster on his last legs! An adulterous love affair! A Valpolicella Girl! Polystyrene take-away food containers that talk! And more! There’s even a sideshow for Peter and Katie…
Ben Calvert & The Swifts’ psychedelic circus alt-folk first saw the light of day in front of a few hundred avid ears and eyes when they opened the main stage of Moseley Folk Festival in the early Autumn sun last September on a bill that included Fyfe Dangerfield and The Divine Comedy.
The band spent October and November 2010 in sessions at a studio in Birmingham’s Eastside where they recorded an album for release in September 2011.
Northern English strings, maudlin horns, a church organ, a bluesy piano, and toy instrumentation feature on an album that nods schizophrenically in the direction of both Scott Walker’s darkest moments and Syd Barrett at his most lysergic and child-like.
In January 2011 the single ‘Everybody Loves Lucy’ was released on Bohemian Jukebox. The release was delayed as Apple ummed and ahhed about releasing it, due to the controversial topic of the song! In the end it received a 'clean' rating on itunes, which is a tag usually reserved for the output of gansta rappers rather that a post-folk band...
Ben Calvert & The Swifts have played a sell-out show as support to The Jeffrey Lewis & Peter Stampfel Band, and opened for Erland & The Carnival and Hannah Peel, as well as playing a 90 minute set to a packed out Birmingham Symphony Hall.
The band’s first single 'Everybody Loves Lucy' is out now on itunes and through bencalvert.bandcamp.com
In March 2011 the video to The Creatures of Simplicity was completed. A collaboration between the childrens' book illustrator Louise Wright, Ben, and Matt Watkins (Beat 13, Gorillaz) it tells the story of murder in the woods through stop animation. This week the video has been watched over 6,000 times on YouTube.
(20th May 2011)
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While making avant-garde theatre at Dartington College of Arts, Ben picked up a guitar and started writing songs immediately. Influenced by British folk, US Psychedelia and Brit-Pop, audiences and reviewers alike have been charmed by his understated lo-fi post-folk sound that has melodic, narrative, songwriting at the core.
“Finely crafted songwriting” Metro
“Resurrects the mad ghosts of Nico and Nick Drake” Virtual Festivals
“Bruised romanticism…Ben’s Cohen-esque, Smithsian melancholy enchants the building audience.” The Fly
“Lush acoustic melancholia. A troubadour whose songs are rich and full of depth, never falling into formulaic structures, Calvert is a truly talented artist who inspires me with thoughts of what could be.” Jeff Stuka, Blue Whale Blog
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