Posts Tagged ‘Birthdays’

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‘Behaving’ is the new electronic side-project from singer-songwriter and composer, Keaton Henson. Released via The Vinyl Factory on physical for the first time, this first edition hosts a limited art print hand signed and numbered by the musician.

After two years of working on his, yet untitled, followup to the critically acclaimed album “Birthdays”, Henson decided to close the door and begin experimenting with electronics and new ways of creating his sound. The result of his exhaustion and brief window of time is showcased in through this record, ‘Behaving’.

‘Behaving’ is an entirely self made record, mostly recorded in the dark, with many lyrics and vocals improvised in one take. It is a dark and, at times, unsettling exploration of love, ego and the creative process.

The launch of ‘Behaving’ comes full circle for Keaton Henson, who quietly released his limited edition, hand-made debut album “Dear” in 2012, before a surprise Zane Lowe play led to a flurry of investigation into Henson’s identity and whereabouts.

Following acute stage-fright and choosing not to perform or promote his record in a conventional manner, his heavier second album ‘Birthdays’ saw Keaton make an astonishing return to the live arena.

Despite his inability to read or write music, “Romantic Works” was surprise-released on the same day of Henson’s biggest, immediately-sold-out show to date (headlining London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall at the request of James Lavelle). It quickly picked up plays across Radio 1, XFM, Classic FM and Spotify’s viral chart (Keaton has a fiercely loyal, million-plus following on Soundcloud alone) and climaxed with Henson staging a DIY, immersive production of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for two-sold out nights at Oval Space, in association with The Barbican.

In recent months Henson has completed a full-length score for the ballet ‘Young Men’ with Balletboyz and choreographer Ivan Perez, his first collection of Poetry entitled ‘Idiot Verse’, and an illustrated songbook with Faber.

Birthdays, Dear and Romantic Works back on vinyl due to popular demand.

Pianist, vocalist and heartbreaker Keaton Henson has announced that all three of his acclaimed and hugely popular full length LPs are to be repressed on vinyl. Henson’s 2011 debut Dear, reissued on vinyl by The Vinyl Factory earlier this year with a hand-signed print, will be repressed featuring three bonus songs not available on the original album.

Cementing his reputation at the vanguard of a new generation of songwriters in the Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith vein, Henson’s 2013 follow up Birthdays is also slated for repress, featuring three bonus tracks ‘Milk Teeth’, ‘If I Don’t Have To’ and ‘On the News’, which you can listen to below.

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The series is completed by Henson’s stripped down instrumental suite Romantic Works, also released by The Vinyl Factory with a signed print in 2014. The repress will include the original bonus track ‘La Naissance’ and a remix by producer and composer Ulrich Schnauss.

All three represses are available now and are pressed on 180gram vinyl featuring artwork by Henson himself.

Order Dear now.

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Order Birthdays now.

Order Romantic Works now.

Watch our the one-shot video for ‘Party Song’ (taken from Dear)

Watch Keaton Henson’s stunning performance of ‘Party Song’ from his debut album Dear.

Ever since its official release in 2012 which saw all 1000 copies fly off the shelf, Keaton fans have continuously demanded a vinyl re-release of his cult heartbreak album Dear. The day has finally arrived – and could the timing be any better with Valentine’s Day just around the corner?

To mark the release, we invited Keaton to our Brewer Street Car Park Space for a secret gig. Featuring Harry Cameron-Penny on bass clarinet and recorded using Shure KSM141 microphones, watch his mesmerising and achingly beautiful performance of ‘Party Song’ in the film above.

Released by The Vinyl Factory, the Dear reissue features all the tracks from the original album plus three ‘re-produced’ bonus tracks. The edition comes housed in a bespoke matt sleeve with spot UV debossed artwork and an exclusive fine art print by Keaton himself, individually hand numbered and signed.

 

 

 

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Keaton Henson is an English folk rock musician, visual artist and poet from London. As a musician Henson usually sings and plays guitar. Henson suffers from serious stage fright and, as a result, he rarely plays concerts.

Henson wrote and recorded his second album in less than a year. He travelled to California to record the album and worked with American producer Joe Chiccarelli. In February 2013 he released Birthdays.  A limited edition version of the album was released featuring three bonus songs and a hand-painted piece of art, taken from a large painting Henson made and cut up into 196 pieces. Birthdays has spawned three singles so far: “Lying to You”, “Sweetheart, What Have You Done To Us” and “You” (which was a limited edition 7″ single for Record Store Day with an etching by Henson on the b-side). The album was also released as a very limited book edition, featuring illustrations made by different artists accompanying the songs. In 2012 and 2013, Henson performed sporadically, usually in tiny venues, galleries or museums. In late 2013 he performed in three churches around England.

In August 2013 NPR Music published a live ‘Tiny Desk Concert’ on YouTube  with the set list “You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are”, “Sweetheart What Have You Done To Us”, and “You”.

On 16 June 2014 Henson performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London as part of the James Lavelle-curated Meltdown festival. Earlier on the day of the expected gig, Henson released a new album with no previous announcement. The album, his third, titled Romantic Works and featuring cellist Ren Ford