Gentle, acoustic ballad corner

I don't know about you, but after the bluster and bombast of X Factor on a Saturday night, my ears need a little respite from the the SHOUTY VOICE-OVERS, the EQUALLY SHOUTY SINGERS and the BAYING BLOODTHIRSTY AUDIENCES.

Well, here is the aural equivalent of a palate-cleanser to store up for 9:30pm tonight. It should fit nicely into the ad break between the Cole-athon and the Take That documentary.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Atlas Hands

Benjamin Francis Leftwich is a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from York. His oeuvre is the strumballad, currently the preserve of such artists as Jose Gonzalez and Jack Johnson. Like them, he takes a genre which is largely doomed to humdrum blandness and draws you in with... something. I can't put my finger on what it is, but there's a delicate, understated beauty to his voice that has me reaching for the "replay" button over and over again.

Atlas Hands was recorded in a remote French country village, and you can buy it now available on on iTunes. Benjamin is also offering you, the readers of Discopop Directory, a free download of his cover of The Killers' When You Were Young. To be fair, he's probably offered exactly the same thing to readers of other mid-ranking music blogs but I'm not fussy. The track can be streamed or downloaded via the widgety widget.

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