Those precious last hours of a weekend are always to be spent doing what I love, and that generally involves painting, writing, crafting or else curling up with a book. Sunday night is my wind down time, getting myself ready for a good night's sleep in preparation for a busy week ahead.
Cozy lamplight, a hot cup of tea in hand, and a relaxing soundtrack in the background. And who is my go-to for that soundtrack? Occasionally it's Florence + The Machine, more often it's Paolo Nutini. But most of the time, Ben Howard is my musician of choice.
I first discovered Mr Howard back in the summer of 2012, just as I was graduating from uni and moving out of my student house. If I'm not mistaken, I came across him on Spotify, which I have found to be fantastic for discovering new artists (when it decides to work on my computer, that is). I was stunned by the richness of Ben Howard's voice, the exquisite guitar, the flawless lyrics. His 2011 album Every Kingdom is relaxing but uplifting, maintaining a mostly positive vibe throughout. I listened to it on a loop for months, then went on to discover some of his other work, such as The Burgh Island EP or his BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge covers (I recommend his cover of Carly Rae Jepson's Call Me Maybe or Ellie Goulding's Figure 8 for a truly shivers-down-your-spine experience). My favourite songs of Ben's are Diamonds and Everything from the Every Kingdom album, the two Live Lounge covers mentioned above, and Esmeralda from The Burgh Island EP. His latest album, I Forget Were We Were, has a slightly different sound to it, but it is just as stunning, with some truly haunting tunes. And, following his gig in Hamburg back in November, I can confirm that, impossibly, he sounds even better live.
I have said this before and I'll say it again: in my opinion, Ben Howard is what Heaven must sound like.
Happy Sunday everyone x
Hamburg, Germany, April 2015
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