Keaton Henson: Open Wounds #1

This threadlike troubadour is Keaton Henson: an artist, illustrator and songwriter whose hermit-like ways were politely thwarted by the obvious need for people to hear his beautiful, simple songs of love, isolation and introspection. He doesn’t perform live, is unlikely tour and only truly wrote for himself until his friend whom he shared his personal creations with handed them to a contact in the industry.

Keaton has been fortunate in that those representing him understand that he wont be confessing his innermost demons in-front of crowds any time soon, his music speaks for itself and when you take a look at his art you're even more intrigued by this colour-blind, fairly socially inept yet vivid, subversive and incredibly “hip” artist. His shy persona and crippling stage fright mean live performances are rare but he does give his fans a chance to see him play live through “The Crypt Sessions” and "Forts" where he's filmed performing his material, sometimes via live stream or later upload, both are equally magical. You can get a taste of his bitter-sweet reverie through his beautifully shot music videos that also give you a very intelligent glimpse of his vision of the world. If you're feeling a touch fragile I'd wait for a sunnier day to enter Keatons monochrome world, you may find yourself in a puddle of sheer emotion, you may find yourself hearing a stranger telling your most painful stories, you may find peace, you definitely will find love.

Keaton Henson - You Don't Know How Lucky You Are from Keaton Henson on Vimeo.

Boat to Row sail us into December with 'Grassmarket'

This Nuneaton collective first graced my ears supporting Pete Roe at a free Acoustic Rooms special at Rescue Rooms in Nottingham (my housemate and I even got their first ever autograph!).  Seeing the wonderful Pete Roe was only enhanced by getting to see these upbeat youngsters lead by Michael King’s rich voice. Unfortunately, it was only the male members performing that night and I was delighted to later discover that they actually consist of two ladies and four gents. This makes for sumptuous female/male harmonies and adds an extra dimension to the already beautiful folk songs.

Over the past two years I’ve kept my eye on the band, who have graced many small festivals such as 2000 Trees, Dot to Dot and even headlined the Lunar stage at Mosely Folk Festival . Following their succesful  jaunt around the festival circuit the band released the romantic ‘A Boat to Row to Row to you’, which includes the emotive lyrics which often pop into my head; ‘I’ll be seeing you lately, I’ll be seeing you in all my regrets’.

In October they shared a collection of home recordings and one off radio recordings for free here. Today sees the release of their EP ‘Grassmarket’ on the istartedthefire label. I’d highly reccomend track 5 ‘grassmarket’, which was so enjoyable I couldn’t help but do a little jig whilst listening. And at only £5, it could make a great Christmas gift!

LAURA MARLING - 'A CREATURE I DON'T KNOW' RELEASED TODAY

 

So just over a year since the Mercury-nominated I Speak Because I Can we have album #3 from highbrow folkster Laura Marling, entitled 'A Creature I Don't Know'. Marling is an artist I can't help but be intrigued by despite the fact that I don't always find her easy to listen to. It's not that the musical arrangements are particularly complex or her lyrical subject matter inaccessible in any way; rather - and particularly on Speak - her songs often exude sort of weighty solemnity; there is a bleakness there which I find difficult to get past . Nonetheless I look forward to listening to this new release; it will be nothing if not interesting and Marling is definitely the best thing so far to come out of the recent UK folk 'revival' (as much as dislike that term, I don't know how else to describe it). The classy promo video below features snippets of songs from the album (which, I am glad to hear, showcase Marling's fine guitar work) as well as chat from Marling about her creative process.