Benjamin Clementine’s solemn sound
This year’s winner of the Mercury prize has a voice like Nina Simone and fingers like Erik Satie
By Hazel Sheffield
The Mercury prize ceremony took a sombre turn after the winner was announced last Friday. Benjamin Clementine, a 26-year-old pianist from north London, was momentarily lost for words when he won for his debut album “At Least for Now”. Then he dedicated the award to Paris, where he spent several years busking – and sleeping – on the streets: “I know that it’s about music, but I dedicate it to what happened in Paris about four or five days ago.”
A long pause followed. The music-industry executives, eating beef and chocolate mousseline in the stalls, waited in silence. But Clementine was overcome, and the presenter Lauren Laverne rushed across the stage to take over as the room filled with applause.
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