Benjamin Francis Leftwich has shared Elephant the first piece of new material to surface since his acclaimed 2019 album ‘Gratitute’. Whereas ‘Gratitude’ saw Leftwich embrace electronic elements and bring darker production into play, Elephant takes him back to his roots, as those signature hushed vocals over an ethereal choir backdrop and delicate guitars. Elephants is the first taste of his upcoming EP on Dirty Hit Records.

“For me, this song is about re-connecting with personal history and unresolved sadness through a clearer and more compassionate lens than was looked through before,” says Leftwich. “I have always loved elephants for their strength, beauty and unique nature, and so using the idiom of an ‘elephant in the room’ felt right in writing about the past from a kinder and calmer perspective. I think this song is an observation on re-engaging with past trauma for growth, rather than seeing it as something to ignore and pretend isn’t there, or never even happened.”

We spoke to Benjamin Frances Leftwich on the morning of Gratitude’s release back in March of this year.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich – Interview

We recently caught up with Benjamin Francis Leftwich in London. The York singer songwriter’s new album ‘Gratitude’ had just been released that morning and, as you would expect, he is excited for it to finally see the light of day. Leftwich has to pop off for an in-store appearance later, but is eager to chat about the newest member of the family and in a refreshingly pragmatic way too about it too.

“I’m proud of the whole thing and now that it’s out I just have to let it go. I hope people feel it, it hits them in the heart and get something from it.”

“I think it’s different on this third album, because I’m not a brand new buzzy artist who’s about to release their album for the first time,” says Leftwich, explaining his zen-like mood.

Read the rest of the interview here

Benjamin also supplied us with a playlist of tracks which have influenced him as an artist. Click on the image below to listen to his selections.