Radical Face, The Forge, gig review: music of magic and intimacy with mass appeal

Ben Cooper's Family Tree albums The Roots, The Branches and latest installment The Leaves tell the story of one family over centuries

Ben Cooper of Radical Face (Six07 Press)

Two lost novels on a cracked hard drive spurred Ben Cooper to tell his stories through songs under the name Radical Face.

He set about writing a family saga set over centuries, inspired by the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It was only eight years later and several albums in that he found he was writing about himself.

On the first of three sold-out nights at the Forge in London, he is improbably funny for a man who just lived through the conviction of his stepfather for sexually assaulting his niece.

“Hi, I'm Ben, you probably know me from the Internet but I'm from Florida.

"The land of retired old people, Mickey Mouse and alligators,” he tells the audience, who jostle for a glimpse of his green trucker cap.

Around the stage, old pictures have been strung from the walls and tables are spread with scrapbooks containing lyrics and notes.

It would take a day to dissemble the full story from his trio of Family Tree albums The Roots, The Branches and latest installment The Leaves, released in March.

But there is a simplicity to these acoustic compositions that makes them accessible despite dense imagery in the lyrics.

Cooper warms up with "Summer Skeletons", a song about lake-swimming and star-watching during a childhood spent outdoors, but he quickly switches to minor keys.

"Secrets (cellar door)", about his niece, contains lines about cracked trees, resurrected dogs, ghosts and death.

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You can imagine him toiling away on this stuff in isolation, but tonight he feeds off his band, joking with Rick on piano about him messing up the intro to "Always Gold". They play the song at the request of an audience member, for their birthday.

This is music of magic and intimacy with mass appeal – the kind that appears during the denouement of indie films (final song "Welcome Home" has already appeared on Skins). It's a page-turner of a set.

Set list

1. Pound of flesh

2. Reminders

3. Summer skeletons

4. Black eyes

5. Severus and stone

6. Secrets (cellar door)

7. We're on our way

8. Always gold

9. Gilded hand

10. Welcome home

11. The mutes

12. Wrapped in piano strings