Sweet Baboo

Sweet Baboo is Stephen Black, a musician from rural North Wales. Before becoming a solo artist, he played with the band JT Mouse.^[1] He is bilingual in Welsh and English but usually sings in English.

Career

Sweet Baboo's earliest musical influences were fellow Welsh musicians such as Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. Later influences have included the Beach Boys and Jonathan Richman.^[2] His musical style has been described as a mix of country and psychedelic – idiosyncratic, with a skill for writing darkly funny to piercingly tender lyrics.^[3]

Sweet Baboo has performed extensively at festivals such as Glastonbury, Green Man, Festival N°6 and Latitude.^[4] He has worked with Cate Le Bon, Slow Club and H. Hawkline. He's also performed with and produced Euros Childs, The Pictish Trail, The Voluntary Butler Scheme and Islet and collaborated with Gruff Rhys.^[5]

Sweet Baboo's album I'm a Dancer / Songs about Sleepin' was nominated for the first ever Welsh Music Prize in 2011.^[6]

Sweet Baboo launched single "Let's Go Swimming Wild" in 2012 as a free download. After winning BBC Radio 6 Music's "Rebel Playlist" weekly singles competition on the Steve Lamacq show, it was constantly played on the station, once an hour, on the hour. "If I Died...", the second single from his upcoming album, was released in March 2013 to much critical acclaim. To celebrate that month's St. David's Day, a Welsh-language version of the song (co-written with H. Hawkline) was released online.^[7] The third single from the album, "C'Mon Let's Mosh", was released in July 2013, having also won the 6 Music "Rebel Playlist" competition in June.

The album "Ships" was released in April 2013 on Moshi Moshi Records. Sweet Baboo followed the release with his first headlining tour in the UK and also performed solo shows and band shows in several festivals during summer 2013. Another headlining tour followed later in the year.^[8] The album was nominated for the Welsh Music Prize in 2013.

On 11 November 2013, Sweet Baboo released a new EP titled Motorhome Songs.^[9]

In July 2014, Moshi Moshi will release a limited edition 12" vinyl collection of tracks recorded during sessions on Marc Riley's show on BBC 6 Music over the previous decade. The release was followed by a short series of performances named The Test Pressings Tour and a duo tour with The Pictish Trail.^[10] The duo returned to that set as a one-off performance at the 2015 Green Man Festival, where Black also performed a full-band set (featuring The Mavron Quartet) and as part of the bands accompanying H. Hawkline and Meilyr Jones.

In December 2014, Black contributed vocals to Mowbird's Lady Lion EP on Shape Records. He also played saxophone on the track "Lady Low" from Teleman's 2014 debut album.

His next album, The Boombox Ballads, was released in August 2015 on Moshi Moshi.^[11] The track "You Got Me Time Keeping" features Tender Prey (Laura Bryon) on vocals.

Personal life

Black grew up in Trefriw and has lived in Cardiff since he was 18. He has a brother named David, who's played on some of Stephen's recordings.^[12] He is close friends with fellow musicians Cate Le Bon and H. Hawkline.

Black married his longtime girlfriend Bronwen in October 2013.^[13] The two and their son live in Cardiff.^[14]

Solo discography

Albums

• The Mighty Baboo (2008)
• Hello Wave (2009)
• I'm a Dancer / Songs about Sleeping (vinyl 2011; CD 2014)
• Ships (2013)
• The Marc Riley BBC Sessions (2014)
• The Boombox Ballads (2015)

EPs

• C'mon Let's Permoose (2004)
• Girl Under a Tree (vinyl 2011; CD 2014)
• Motorhome Songs (vinyl 2013)
• Dennis (vinyl 2016)

Stand-alone singles

• Mountain (2006)
• C'mon Beef (2007)

References