Radical Face
Radical Face is a musical act whose main member is Ben Cooper.
Radical Face | |
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Radical Face at Haldern Pop Festival 2017. | |
Background information | |
Born | Jacksonville, Florida |
Origin | Jacksonville |
Genres | Folk, electronic |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
Years active | 2000–present |
Labels | Bear Machine Records, Nettwerk Music Group |
Website | www |
History
Cooper chose the name Radical Face upon seeing it on a flyer. He later found out it was a plastic surgery flyer saying 'Radical Face-Lift' with the word 'lift' ripped off.[1]
Cooper's first album to be recorded under the Radical Face pseudonym was The Junkyard Chandelier (2003). The album was never formally released but has since been available as a free download online. Ghost was the first official studio album, released by Radical Face in March 2007.
On November 16, 2010, Cooper released a six-track EP titled Touch The Sky, which served as an appetizer for an announced trilogy of albums called Family Tree, which follows the tale of a fictional family, the Northcotes, through its generations. It is dedicated to the first two generations of the Northcotes family tree and is narratively based in the 1800s.[2]
Leading up to the release of the first album, The Roots, The Bastards: Volume One EP was released track by track, the first of a number of free EPs over the course of the Family Tree project. The Roots was released on October 4, 2011. In August The Roots was accidentally released to users outside of the US on iTunes. It was followed by The Branches and The Leaves.[3]
The Family Tree: The Branches was released on October 22, 2013 in America and on November 1st in Europe. The Bastards: Volume Two was also released that year.
The Bastards: Volume Three and The Bastards: Volume Four were both released in 2015, leading up to the release of The Family Tree: The Leaves in March 2016.The song "Nightclothes" is dedicated to Cooper's late sister, Hannah Cooper.[4]
A series of EPs are planned to be released throughout 2017, the first being SunnMoonnEclippse, released February 10. The EPs full video is available on a website of the same name.
Clone, an album by Ben Cooper and Richard Colado, was announced to be released through Bear Machine Records and available by fall of 2012.[5] After many delays, the first track of Clone, The Laboratory, was released on September 23, 2014.[6] The album was released in acts, Cooper adding one act per week to release the album. Each track has a full explanation of the act available at projectclone.com. 'Laser-engraved crystal thumb drives' were designed as an alternative medium for the album.[7]
The single "Welcome Home" was played at the beginning of the first episode for the TV series The Returned. It was then used as theme in Nikon's worldwide campaign "I'M NIKON".
The songs "Welcome Home", "Baptisms", "Always Gold", "The Road to Nowhere", "Summer Skeletons", "Letters Home" were featured in the American crime thriller television series The Blacklist.
In late 2018, Cooper released his 6th album "Missing Film", which is appropriately entitled, as the album was intended to be used by indie film makers royalty free under creative commons, or in Cooper's own words, "So basically, as long as you are not selling something, then you can use any of it without needing my explicit permission." As one would imagine, the album consists only of instrumental work, a departure from his previous work, but unsurprising as Radical Face has released several songs that have been used in television and movies because of the emotional nature of Cooper's songwriting.
In 2020, Cooper will release the album Into the Woods, while releasing songs that are produced but not yet released along the way as singles. The first one was "Reveries", released in January 2020.
Starting in August 2020, Cooper is releasing a monthly mailer named "Hidden Hollow". An original Radical Face song will also be releasing alongside it.
Discography
Albums
Title, Notes on release | Track listing |
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The Junkyard Chandelier
2003 Self-released. |
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Ghost
Released in 2007. "Welcome Home" was awarded Song of the year by "Which?" |
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The Family Tree: The Roots
Released in 2011. |
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The Family Tree: The Branches
Released in 2013. |
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The Family Tree: The Leaves
Released in 2016. |
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Missing Film
Released in 2018. |
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Ghost(Anniversary Edition)
Released in 2019. |
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EPs
Title | Year | Track listing |
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Touch The Sky EP | 2010 |
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The Bastards: Volume One | 2011 |
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Always Gold EP | 2012 |
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The Bastards: Volume Two | 2013 |
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The Bastards: Volume Three | 2014 |
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The Bastards: Volume Four | 2015 |
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SunnMoonnEclippse | 2017 |
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Covers, Volume 1: "Lady Covers" | 2018 |
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Therapy | 2019 |
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Reveries | 2020 |
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The Missing Road | 2020 |
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Sunlight | 2020 |
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More Clay Than Stone (Still On Our Way) | 2020 |
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The River With No Name | 2020 |
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Music videos
Year | Song | Album |
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2007 | "Welcome Home" | Ghost |
2010 | "Doorways" | Touch The Sky EP |
2012 | "We're On Our Way" | The Bastards: Volume One |
2012 | "A Pound of Flesh" | The Family Tree: The Roots |
2012 | "Always Gold" | The Family Tree: The Roots |
2013 | "Holy Branches" | The Family Tree: The Branches |
2014 | "The Mute" | The Family Tree: The Branches |
2016 | "Secrets (Cellar Door)" | The Family Tree: The Leaves |
2016 | "The Road To Nowhere" | The Family Tree: The Leaves |
2016 | "Everything Costs" | The Family Tree: The Leaves |
2017 | "Sunn"
"Moonn" "Eclippse" |
SunnMoonnEclippse |
2019 | "Doubt" | Therapy |
2019 | "Hard of Hearing" | Therapy |
References
- "Review: Radical Face, The Family Tree: The Roots | Timber and Steel". Timberandsteel.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- "Radical Face – Touch The Sky [EP]". Randomville.com. 2011-01-19. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- Robin Murray (2016-01-28). "Premiere: Radical Face - 'Secrets (Cellar Door)'". Clash.
- "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- "Clone | Act 1: The Laboratory". YouTube. 2014-09-23. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- "Radical Face". Radical Face. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- Steffen Hung. "Discographie Radical Face". lescharts.com. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- Steffen Hung. "Discografie Radical Face". dutchcharts.nl. Archived from the original on 2016-01-23. Retrieved 2015-10-11.