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.
