{"id":68832,"date":"2018-09-05T10:29:59","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T15:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=68832"},"modified":"2018-09-06T13:45:35","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T18:45:35","slug":"benjamin-francis-leftwich-i-am-with-you-ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2018\/09\/05\/benjamin-francis-leftwich-i-am-with-you-ep\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin Francis Leftwich: I Am With You EP"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Many of Benjamin Francis Leftwich\u2019s early works can be categorized within the acoustic folk genre. To date, the British solo artist has released two LP\u2019s and a handful of EP\u2019s and singles. In his most recent EP, \u201cI Am With You,\u201d Leftwich\u2019s sound takes a wild departure from tradition as he delves into the realm of autotuned and synth-y pop. Where artists such as Bon Iver have capitalized on this unique sound, Leftwich just can\u2019t pull it off.<\/p>\n

The trouble with the four-song EP isn\u2019t solely the change in sound itself, it\u2019s the overall composition of the tracks. Auto tune can enhance a song when used tactfully, but Leftwich really overdoes it, especially on \u201c4AM in London\u201d and \u201cI Am With You.\u201d It also seems that he took too much liberty in experimenting with electronic instrumentation on the latter track. The lyrics are mostly repetitive and uninspiring, with only an occasional line demonstrating any sense of depth.<\/p>\n

One such example is the chorus of \u201cNumb,\u201d where Leftwich expresses, \u201cYou know that I wanna feel the rain when it hits me.\u201d It is a surprisingly poignant comment about the effects of mental illness on how we experience the world around us. In fact, \u201cNumb\u201d is the only redeeming track on the EP\u2014and even it is not as well-crafted as Leftwich\u2019s previous projects. Experimentation is healthy, but in this case, we must hope that he returns to his tried-and-true sound for future songs.
\n
\nRecommended If You Like: James Vincent McMorrow, Bon Iver, Hayden Calnin
\nRecommended Tracks: 3 (Numb)
\nDo Not Play: 2 (Power Down)
\nWritten by Jaya Chakka on 09\/05\/2018 <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Benjamin Francis Leftwich’s decision to depart from his traditional acoustic sound on his latest EP does not pan out in his favor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20842,"featured_media":68833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3235,181],"tags":[8156,8155,7712,3367],"class_list":["post-68832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-music-reviews","category-rock-rotation","tag-i-am-with-you","tag-james-francis-leftwich","tag-jaya-chakka","tag-rock-rotation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/i-am-with-you-album-cover_opt.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20842"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}