It must be frustrating for the Benita Johnsons of this world. From the opening lines of the first song on ‘You Should Know…’ it’s obvious that this Bristol-based singer-songwriter oozes talent. This talented musician is doing the rounds performing all over the place and struggling to gain the attention her music so rightly deserves and you turn on the radio or TV and hear some talentless joker singing someone else’s song. Badly. It must be enough for the likes of Benita to feel like giving up.

That first song, ‘Free’, threw me a little actually. From what I’d read I got the impression that Benita was a folk-singer. While I accept that we all have differing ideas of what a folk-singer actually is I’m amazed that anyone dare even try to categorise the music Benita makes let alone call it folk music. Firstly although the song starts off acoustically it’s only a matter of seconds that the electric guitar takes over (courtesy of Sally Wyatt) and then those vocals come in and you wonder why the hell Benita Johnson isn’t a major star yet. She’s had two E.P.s released already and if the ten songs that make up ‘You Should Know…’ are any indication then Benita should already be well-known.

I know we have a lot of home-grown female singers who are very underrated but Benita is quite simply the possessor of one of the best voices to come out of the U.K. in many a year. She handles all the vocals on this album apart from some backing vocals on ‘Distance’ and it’s practically impossible to pigeon-hole either Benita’s vocals or her type of music into just one category. There is simply no one quite like her which makes writing about her debut album all the more difficult. I’m reminded of the first time I heard Tracey Thorn sing; a unique English vocalist who is in a class of her own and while there are no similarities in their voices they share that uniqueness.

Anyone who is a great vocalist and has such a distinctive vocal style could sing the most uninteresting of songs and still make a decent fist of it. Due to the lack of information on the CD we received I’m uncertain if all the songs on ‘You Should Know…’ are Johnson originals but I’ve a feeling that they are. That opening song, ‘Free’ is made by Benita’s vocals. The song itself is nothing more than average, the type of song you can hear anywhere and not really take too much notice of but the reason it shines here is due to Benita’s outstanding vocals. It’s a case where the vocals really do make the song.

Thankfully, and rather oddly, it appears that the weakest song on the album, which is saved purely by an outstanding vocal performance, was chosen to open the album. The second song, ‘Beautiful’, not only takes a totally different musical path to that from the preceding song but the song itself is an exceptional piece of work. Strip away Benita’s vocals and you’re still left with a stunning composition. Again it’s not folk and it’s not rock or pop, it’s Benita Johnson doing her thing and it’s beautiful.

Unbelievably things get even better as the album progresses. The third track, ‘Devotion’ is dominated by banjo from Ben Waller but Benita again steals the show with her vocals despite the song having one of her prettiest melodies.

Again due to lack of information on our CD it’s uncertain who produced this album but the stripped-back sound of ‘All That Glitters’ is a stroke of genius and is sympathetically recorded and produced. It’s also a showcase for just how good Benita is vocally as once again all vocals are covered by her.

‘You Should Know…’ is one of those albums where every time you play it you have a new favourite song. Just now ‘Any Day Now’ is the favourite around these parts with cello and viola adding texture to Benita’s acoustic guitar and once again the vocals on this song are simply breathtaking.

‘You Should Know…’ is one of the strongest debuts I’ve heard all year and must surely just be the beginning of a long and rewarding recording career for Benita Johnson. This album must be checked out…don’t let this one disappear.


Track Listing