Description

Cult DIY outfit and BBC 6 Music favourites Mr Ben & the Bens return in 2024 with a brand new 10-track LP Small Wide World via Bingo Records.

After years of steadily touring the back and even-further-back of beyond in the UK, as well as some of the island?s most beloved venues, Ben found himself taking a well-earned hiatus during 2023. Hibernating in his Sheffield studio in an old pewter factory, and in between working as a full-time potter come illustrator, he penned a set of contemplative songs which would later become the new album.

From the Village Green-era Kinks-style Poor, Poor Me to the motoric Listening Party, Small Wide World combines tried-and-tested methods with sonic departures for the band. Recorded in Tesla Studios and produced by David Glover, the new album inhabits a world of vintage drums machines, shimmering acoustics and wiry synthesisers.

Lyrically, kitchen sink realism winds its way around a set of songs jam packed with melancholic melody. So long Sympathy speaks of fragile ego and our means of combatting this, and Penny Drop of the loudest voice in the room disarmed by a junior colleague. Ben aims to disarm hostility in both society and the self with sensitive, personal sentiment.

With a limited edition vinyl and UK tour in the works for late March this year, Mr Ben & the Bens looks set to take on their Small Wide World once again.

Description

Located on Oldham Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, Gullivers is an iconic, lively and bustling bar with a long history dating all the way back to 1865.
Gullivers has had many different guises over the years. It was originally a Wilson’s house called The Albert Hotel, then The Grenadier before J.W. Lees brewery bought the pub in the 1970s. They renamed it Gullivers and it has existed in its current form to this day.
But there’s much more to Gullivers than just the busy bar; it also houses two distinct yet complementary live music and performance spaces; the upstairs Ballroom – a 100 capacity gig venue with a raised stage and the downstairs Lounge – an intimate, 40 capacity space ideal for acoustic or low-key performances.
As well as working with established and longstanding promoters from Manchester and beyond, Gullivers prides itself on being a welcoming, supportive space and a creative hub for the city’s grassroots artistic communities; with many now successful bands, artists, performers and promoters cutting their teeth within its walls.
This rare combination of space, location and ethos allows Gullivers to boast a busy calendar of live music, spoken word, comedy, theatre, film screenings, exhibitions and much more on almost every night of the week.

109 Oldham Street,

Manchester,

Greater Manchester,

England,

M4 1LW.

0161 839 4064