UK artist Benjamin Clementine is back with his first album in five years, And I Have Been, out today via his own Preserve Artists label. Benjamin tells NME that this is the first album in a planned trilogy, and that this is the "light" album of the three. "I hardly ever sing about love, it’s just a weird thing for me," he says. "And so this first album is trying to sing about love, because I met my wife and she’s a great human being and I love her. “It’s the first time I’ve actually experienced this thing called love." He adds that part two will be more "bleak" and about "how love eventually becomes the responsibility," and the third part will be about "hope."
"When Covid happened, I realised that actually, no, I need people around me," Benjamin continued. "That’s what started to inspire the album. And when I started writing, I got a son with my wife, Florence. And that brought a lot of past trauma out of me. I had to see a few therapists to get to understand that. And in that process, of course, as an artist, you write what you go through."