Benjamin Wetherill, a Leeds native who has been making his own music for over a decade now, plays intricate fingerpicked guitar passages, and sings with a lilting singing style unlike anybody recording today. The uniqueness of his style provides a startling listen for anyone looking for truly talented musicians wholly focused on their own vision.
His debut album for Ba Da Bing, Laura, was recorded in a castle in the outskirts of Budapest, and was produced by Jeremy Barnes, A Hawk and a Hacksaw's genius songwriter, who heard Wetherill while touring and offered to produce him. During the recording, Barnes enlisted his Hun Hangar Ensemble of Hungarian musicians to assist in the recording, and they have delicately expanded Wetherill's songs to include a feather orchestra of light touches and small accents. The result is an album as emotional as it is detailed and fragile.
He doesn't sound like Nick Drake. He doesn't sound like John Fahey. He's not, God forbid, 'freak folk'. Rather, Benjamin Wetherill is making true, original music in a manner never quite done before, and the effect is startling.