Radical Face

Yesterday I went to Stockholm with Mikaela to see Radical Face perform at Debaser Strand. Ben Cooper, the man behind the Radical Face is such an amazing talent that it just blows your mind. He writes, produces, records and mixes the music himself. He sings and plays a handful of different instruments and in some magical way he manages to be equally talented in each of the disciplines. And if that wasn’t enough he also creates the album-covers, which are both beautiful and unique. The background of this post is a great example of that.

Another thing I love with his music is his storytelling. His albums always have a theme that is present throughout the whole record. His latest project within the Radical Face project is even more ambitious. Over three albums he tells his family history starting with immigrants arriving to the US. The lyrics are sometimes very dark, but always interesting and filled with insight. One of my favorites is the first song of The Family Tree: The Roots. It is called Names and I have quoted it below, but be sure to listen to the song as well. I think it is so beautiful and relevant for Europe as well in these times. It’s one of these songs that would have cured racism already, if only those people had better taste in music.

As the warmth of the sun leaves my back

And these bruise colored skies turn to black

None of these faces look the same

And not-a-one knows my name

Oh, I am a long way from home

This road is now my only friend

It welcomes me through straights and through bends

But no matter how long I stay

It’ll never know my name

Oh, I am a long way from home

Yeah I am a long way from home

Radical Face - Names

You could say that I’ve been waiting for a chance to see him live since his debut album Ghost was released in 2007, so for quite some time now. He really is more of a studio musician than a live artist, so I never had any high hopes that he would come all the way from Florida to little Sweden, but sometimes you’re really lucky. I took some photos of the concert and actually filmed two songs as well. For the first time in my life I have uploaded video to Youtube, so you can see them there (or right here in this blog post) if you want to. You can hear me (and Mikaela) sing if you recognize our voices, so sorry about that. The concert was really nice, funny and intimate and I hope to repeat it sometime before I die. Hope you like the photos and the videos and that some of you discover the treasure that is Ben Cooper’s music.