Look out for the debut live album from acclaimed misanthropist Benjamin Shaw, the cult artist who was accidentally born in Canada before growing in Blackpool, spent miserable years in London before relocating to Melbourne, Australia. This release sees him traveling to a church in Krems, Austria for donaufestival 2019 and his first live performance in five years. The lead single ‘A Brand New Day (Live at donaufestival)’ is available now.

Evolving and experimenting, this performance sees him reimagine material from his discography with flashes of glimmering electronica, frozen R&B, glitchy beats, post-rock ambience and more as his fragile vocal carries him through songs about hope, hate and hurt. “It’s like I have a mini-breakdown between each song…”

Shaw has released records with Audio Antihero in New York, Kirigirsu Recordings in Japan, Glass Reservoir in London and more. Recorded live on May 4 2019 in Krems, Austria for donaufestival 2019. This was Benjamin Shaw's first live performance in five years.

The material performed here is taken albums like Megadead, Rumfucker, There's Always Hope, There's Always Cabernet, Guppy, Goodbye, Cagoule World and One Day We'll Laugh About All This. Dissected and reconstructed, the material here evolves often from lo-fi acoustic beginnings to an electronic pop that is both glistening and broken, like shattered glass. Shaw's fractured and frail vocal emotes misanthropic misery over an ocean of beats and waves of sound. Perfectly beautiful and beautifully imperfect.

Anyone who saw Benjamin Shaw performing live in and around London before his move to Australia and live hiatus will find a totally new sound and experience in these recordings.

Our favourite Anglo-American DIY label, Audio Antihero, returns with another release from Benjamin Shaw. 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 the acclaimed singer-songwriter turned noise artist turned electronic pop artist.

Label head honcho and friend of the site, Jamie Halliday said, “Earlier in the year I talked Benjamin Shaw into compiling a "best of" and a "worst of." The "best of" came out in April as Exciting Opportunities: A Collection of Singles and Sadness and this "worst of" is here today with Should've Stayed at Home: A Collection of Oddities and Outtakes.

I think it came out so well. Presented in a loose reverse chronological order, there's songs pulled from forgotten compilations, an outtake from Megadead, session versions of songs from Rumfucker, Goodbye, Cagoule World, There's Always Hope, There's Always Cabernet as well gorgeous demo versions of songs from the debut EP, I Got the Pox, the Pox is What I Got, plus a handful of songs not on any other release.

I love the release. I think Ben is so underrated and I've always wished that more people heard these sessions when originally broadcast as they're so eclectic, creative and warm. Songs like ‘You & Me’, ‘Goodbye, Kagoul World’ and ‘Home’ can be played a million different ways and still sound beautiful. ‘When I Fell Over in the City’ is a song that kind of drove me and Ben a little crazy around 2011, so much so that we couldn't put it on Exciting Opportunities, even though it's probably his most popular single. But it's here, recorded in an earlier session (a shed in Melbourne) and actually sounding way nicer/cleaner than the version we released. I really can't be mad at it and I hope people still like it.

These 16 songs barely scratch the surface of some of the great stuff in "the vault," so maybe I can talk him into another of these someday. I really hope you enjoy this compilation of outtakes and oddities. Ben has been releasing stunning and strange music for about a decade now and anytime I can shine a wee light on some things people have missed then I'm delighted to do it. I miss my big pal.”

Find Should've Stayed at Home here