Keaton Henson - Kindly Now

Rating:

Keaton Henson is still very much the king of heartbreak.

Keaton Henson has a way to make pain seem beautiful. He’s a man that can go inside your head and make poetry out of your innermost thoughts, creating a haunting soundscape to the kind of anxieties and heartbreak we all experience at one point or another. 'Kindly Now' is his third full-length and although he has discussed his dislike for the limelight, there’s an undeniable new confidence at play here. Opener ‘March’ sees a new experimental, electronic side to Henson’s work that, when teamed with his classical background, makes for an exciting introduction.

Piano-led crescendos play second-fiddle to a vocal that is powerful yet achingly vulnerable, with tracks ‘The Pugilist’ and ‘Comfortable Love’ seeing Henson play around with instrumentation more than ever, as strings saunter between crashing cymbals. ‘Alright’ is as close to a pop song Keaton’s going to yet, with catchy lyricism and thought-out, melodic builds. Stand-out ‘No Witnesses’ is the Keaton of days-gone-by, a simple piano melody accompanying heart-wrenching lyrics, proving Keaton at his stripped-back best. Instrumental ‘NW Overture’ of course, favours the classical aspect of Henson’s output but his ability to invoke emotions into just about anything he does means that it’s far from becoming tedious.

Keaton Henson is still very much the king of heartbreak on 'Kindly Now' but by producing something this beautiful, he makes it seem like everything is going to be okay, somehow. Sammy Maine