Should've Stayed at Home: A Collection of Oddities and Outtakes pulls together radio sessions, compilation appearances, unreleased songs, demos, alternative versions and more from acclaimed singer-songwriter turned noise artist turned electronic pop artist Benjamin Shaw.
Previous radio & press support: BBC 6 Music (Tom Ravenscroft, Gideon Coe, Tom Robinson, Steve Lamacq), BBC Radio 3 (Late Junction), FM4 (Heartbeat / Der Sumpf), DIY Mag, CLASH Music, Gold Flake Paint, The Line of Best Fit, Drowned in Sound, The Grey Estates, The 405, Various Small Flames, The Dimestore Saints, For the Rabbits, Atwood Magazine, The Alternative, The Skinny and more.
Key Tracks: 4 / 5 / 7 / 11
Born in Canada (accidentally) and raised in Blackpool before making the move to London, Shaw first appeared in 2009 with the Audio Antihero released 'I Got the Pox, the Pox is what I Got' EP -a fuzzing 6-tracker full of lo-fi dissonance and homicidal romance. The release went largely unnoticed at the time but would pick up support from BBC 6Music's Tom Ravenscroft and a slew of rave reviews, with The Line Of Best Fit warning readers that "if you think you've heard the likes of Benjamin Shaw before, think again."
Debut album 'There's Always Hope, There's Always Cabernet' was released to acclaim fromDrowned in Sound, The 405, Clash Music, TLOBF, This Is Fake DIY, GoldFlakePaint, the BBC and more. Shaw became the singer/songwriter who hated singer/songwriters and his material grew more varied with Folk-esque songs mixing with drones and foggy soundscapes, lurching uncertainly into accidental shoegaze, twisted arrangements and back again, before closing with an aching 7 minute piano ballad about The Incredible Hulk. Response ranged from Drowned In Sound calling it "Superb" to Subba Cultcha asking us to "please make it stop" – I believe "polarising" is the word?
Following a slew of gorgeous experimental soundscape albums, "Megadead" was his first "vocal" album since 2014's "Goodbye, Cagoule World." Packed with found sounds, electronics, samples, loops and liquid guitars. It's as melancholic and malicious as previous releases but with a renewed sense of urgency.

"A piece of work that could stand the test of time...The solitude is palpable." - Gold Flake Paint
"It's a reminder that some of the most powerful emotions can bloom from the simplest of raw moments." - Drowned in Sound
"You wouldn't want everyone (or anyone else) to sound to like Benjamin Shaw but I'm delighted someone does." - The Line of Best Fit
"Benjamin Shaw is an outcast, a loner, a maverick and a freak. All of these are compliments." - CLASH Music