Line #3 Music/BenjaminClementine


1	[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clementine_tvtropes_2.jpg]]
2
3	-> ''"Before I was born there was a storm\
4	Before that storm there was fire\
5	Burning everywhere\
6	And everything became nothing again\
7	And then out of nothing\
8	Out of absolutely nothing I, Benjamin, I was born\
9	So that when I become someone one day\
10	I will always remember that I came from nothing"''
11	-->-- "Condolence"
12
13	Benjamin Clementine is a British musician, primarily known for his distinctive voice, energetic piano playing and GenreMashup style that draws influences from pop, jazz and classical music alike.
14
15	Having been homeless for several years, he started playing cover music in the Paris subway, mostly to make money to survive. He reached a certain level of fame doing this - accordingly, there exist several videos of him from this time, filmed by passengers and passerby (like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzI6yMWMX9I this one]] or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A8u_QKZ4n0 this one]]). He eventually got picked up, got a record label deal and released two extended plays, ''Cornerstone'' and ''Glorious You'', and his full-length debut album, ''At Least For Now''. The latter won him the prestigious Mercury Music Award in the year 2015. He has since released a sophomore album, ''I Tell a Fly'', and appeared on the song ''Hallelujah Money'' on {{Music/Gorillaz}}' album {{Music/Humanz}}, both in 2017. In 2019, he was made a "Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French government, a distinction that rewards cultural contributions to the country.
16
17	He appeared in Creator/DenisVilleneuve’s ''[[Film/Dune2021 Dune: Part One]]'', as the Herald of Change sent by Emperor Shaddam IV.
18	----
19	!! Discography
20	* ''Cornerstone'' EP (2013)
21	* ''Glorious You'' EP (2014)
22	* ''At Least For Now'' (2014)
23	* ''I Tell a Fly'' (2017)
24
25
26	!!The music of Benjamin Clementine features examples of the following tropes:
27
28	* AlbumIntroTrack: "Farwell Sonata" on ''I Tell a Fly'' is not significantly shorter than normal song length, but it starts and ends with long piano parts, with a short, fast, erratic song between them, which makes it seem like more of an introduction rather than an actual song in the conventional sense.
29	* AnimalMotifs: They are common in his lyrics, although their meanings are often very ambiguous:
30	** "Better Sorry Than Asafe" is, as per WordOfGod, from the perspective of a fly.
31	** "Paris Cor Blimey" mentions rats repeatedly.
32	** "One Awkward Fish", with the fish also appearing in the album’s intro, "Farewell Sonata", as “fishes that cannot swim”.
33	%%* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The one minute long "St-Clemetine-On-Tea-And-Croissants", only consisting of two quirky vocal tracks and sparse percussion, with lyrics that are basically a WordSalad MadnessMantra, comes across as this in the middle of ''At Least For Now''.
34	* TheBully: What "Phantom of Aleppoville" is about – the bullies are portrayed by haunting voices chanting “we won’t leave you alone” repeatedly, among other things.
35	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: [[WordOfGod Clementine has explained]] that on the cover for ''At Least For Now'', the blue room represents Paris, while the red door represents London.
36	* ConceptVideo: The music video for "Phantom of Aleppoville" tells an ambiguous story about children in an old school, seemingly trying to find the eponymous "phantom".
37	%%* CreatorCouple: He is married to fellow musician Flo Morrissey and plans to release an album with her under the name ''The Clementines'' in 2020.
38	* CreepyChild: The loud, high-pitched chanting at the beginning of "Phantom of Aleppoville". Also applies to the [[ConceptVideo music video]], where they wear masks with malicious faces.
39	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''I Tell a Fly'' in comparison to ''At Least for Now'' – it has moody songs like "Phantom of Aleppoville" and "God Save the Jungle", and is less accessible overall.
40	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The music videos for "Condolence" and "I Won't Complain".
41	* DenserAndWackier: ''At Least For Now'' has a few unconventional song-writing choices (like the extended spoken word passage in the middle of "Adios"), but ''I Tell a Fly'' is much more chaotic and erratic and has an immense tendency towards GenreMashup and MoodWhiplash.
42	* FaceOnTheCover: Played straight with ''I Tell a Fly'' and the ''Glorious You'' EP. ''At Least For Now'' does show him, but his face is mostly turned away.
43	* GenreMashup: The most common threat that connects most of his music is his piano playing, but apart from that, there’s influences from jazz, pop, classical, and all sorts of different genres. "Calm Down", the first song released for the album he plans to release [[CreatorCouple with his wife]], points in a folky direction.
44	* TheGoldenRule: Cited in the chorus of "Nemesis":
45	-->"Treat others the way you want to be treated."
46	* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: The first verses in "Cornerstone":
47	-->"I am alone in a box of stone\
48	When all is said and done."
49	* LocationSong: "London".
50	* LonelyPianoPiece:
51	** "Cornerstone", with the chorus literally starting with the lyrics “I am lonely”.
52	** "Gone"’s chorus: “All will be gone”. There is, however, a very quiet drum in the background in addition to the piano, but it's playing only the most necessary notes to subtly accentuate the rhythm.
53	* MadnessMantra:
54	** "Then I Heard a Bachelor’s Cry":
55	--->"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry …"
56	** "St-Clementine-On-Tea-And-Croissants":
57	--->"This Clemetine is on tea and croissants, this Clemetine is on tea and croissants, leave him alone …"
58	* MediumAwareness: In the middle of "The People And I":
59	-->"Excuse me, I’m in the middle of a song."
60	* MoodWhiplash: He’s fond of this, especially on ''I Tell a Fly''. Examples include:
61	** "Farewell Sonata", which starts with dark, ominous sounds, then continues as a sad piano piece, suddenly transforms into an energetic, erratic song and then returns to the piano melodies from the first third.
62	** "Phantom of Aleppoville", a song that consists of three parts: A dark, aggressive first part, then an instrumental part, followed by a slow, melodic finale.
63	** "Paris Cor Blimey" is one of the darkest, most haunting songs in his discography, yet it is followed by "Jupiter", one of his lightest, most relaxed songs. In general, the album's second half is noticably lighter than the first.
64	* NewSoundAlbum: ''I Tell A Fly'' is both DarkerAndEdgier and DenserAndWackier than ''At Least For Now''. It features a more prominent rhythm section, and a prominent use of a harpischord along with the typical piano. On top of that, "Ode From Joyce" sees him experiment with synthesizers. All of that said, "Jupiter" and "By the Ports of Europe" are both similar in sound to ''At Least For Now'', and arguably even lighter than most songs on there.
65	* NonAppearingTitle: "Farewell Sonata", "Phantom of Aleppoville", "Paris Cor Blimey", and "Ode From Joyce".
66	* OneWordTitle: "Edmonton", "Mathematics", "London", "Adios", "Nemesis", "Condolence", "Cornerstone", "Gone", "Jupiter", "Quintessence", "Eternity".
67	* PerformanceVideo: The music videos to "Cornerstone" and "Eternity".
68	* ThePlace:
69	** "London", the place he was born and raised in.
70	** Likewise, "Edmonton", the specific district in London he was raised in.
71	** "Jupiter", the place Clementine's [[RobotOrSpacemanAlterEgo Spaceman Alter Ego]] in that song comes from.
72	* PunBasedTitle:
73	** ''I Tell a Fly'', instead of "I tell a lie".
74	** "Better Sorry Than Asafe", instead of "better safe than sorry".
75	** "Ode from Joyce", instead of "Ode to Joy".
76	* RobotOrSpacemanAlterEgo: Ben in "Jupiter" is an alien from the eponymous planet visiting Earth, specifically America, for petrol - it's a spoof on how "alienated" he felt being in America.
77	* ShoutOut: "Winston Churchill’s Boy", aside from its namesake, mentions “[[Creator/GeorgeOrwell the magnificent Orwell]]”.
78	* SiameseTwinSongs: Many of the songs on ''I Tell a Fly'' transition seamlessly, the most notable example being "Better Sorry Than Asafe" to "Phantom of Aleppoville", with the former ending on an extended piano solo that includes a subdued version of the latter's intro melody before transitioning. Accordingly, the solo also doubles as an EpicInstrumentalOpener for "Phantom of Aleppoville".
79	* SpokenWordInMusic: An extended passage in the middle of "Adios".
80	* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: In "Jupiter":
81	-->"Ben is an alien with extra ability\
82	Pushed time to next century"
83	* SurrealMusicVideo: The music video for "I Won't Complain" features a lot of surreal imagery, including hands hanging in the air on strings and mimicking piano playing, a wooden box filled with eyes, and two Benjamins sitting on the same table.
84	* TakeThat: "Paris Cor Blimey" is one to Marine Le Pen.
85	* TitleDrop: "Pound Sterling" has one for ''At Least For Now'', although it's only a bonus track.

Context Music / BenjaminClementine