Keaton Henson
Keaton Henson will release his extraordinary ‘Sweetheart, What Have You Done To Us’ EP on November 19 - the first taster from his second album, ‘Birthdays’ (February 18). This follows Keaton’s critically acclaimed debut ‘Dear...’, which was Rough Trade Album of the Month, iTunes’ One To Watch for 2012 and led to support across Radio 1, XFM, 6music and Radio 2.
Despite ongoing issues with stage-fright, Keaton recently played his two debut live shows at Kennington’s Cinema Museum (October 3 and 4). These sold out - unannounced - in an hour, and picked up 5-star reviews across The Times and Line of Best Fit ('so damn special it may just wind up being the show by which we judge most future events').
Keaton’s debut album, ‘Dear...’, showed how lovelorn sounds can mix powerfully with rawness and rough emotion. Its follow-up, beginning this autumn, goes even further. The titular track, ‘Sweetheart, What Have You Done To Us’, finds Henson in a more melancholic place than ever - mourning and then railing against the loss of newfound love, to a surge of horns and timpani drums. He may be delicate, but this is no wallflower: ‘Sweetheart’ is as brutal as it is beautiful. Keaton’s new EP includes two new tracks, including ‘Kronos’ - a dramatic shift in gear, but one that is held together by Henson’s trademark delicate delivery and lyrical honesty.
The ‘Sweetheart...' EP sees Keaton Henson removed from his comfort zone, both in tone, texture and also his hometown. With an album's worth of new songs ready to go, Keaton was offered the chance to work with a fan of his, American producer Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, The Shins, The Strokes).
Keaton was terrified - not just by working with a producer: he hadn’t flown in seven years - but also felt he had to do this. At twenty-four years old, this reclusive songwriter, artist and poet has never toured, appeared in a video, posted on social networks, and rarely leaves his hometown or his bedroom. Leaving the solitary boy’s leafy suburbs, Keaton Henson went to Hollywood.
It was whilst decamped to L.A. that Keaton met by chance (and eventually recorded with) several guests across the album. Renting an apartment for two months, he recreated his bedroom’s isolation...but allowed others into the fray this time.
As such, the album features guest turns from members across Band of Horses, The Raveonettes, Alberta Cross and even a one-time member of Pearl Jam - some of whom are on particularly noisy form across ‘Kronos’, which was recorded live in one room.
For Keaton, who has harboured a quiet love for hardcore music since he was a teenager, this was the opportunity of a lifetime. Yet even in the famous Hollywood sunshine, he didn't once take off his suit.
Slowly but surely, Keaton Henson may just be stepping out of the shadows - not that he will ever be the kind of artist to bathe in the light . Yet his music gets to the heart of us; and on this forthcoming album, we start to get to the heart of him.