Album Review
Keaton Henson – Dear
The bedroom recording has long been the popular choice for emotionally torn up people with a level of ability on guitar to document the sound of their forlorn hearts, and in the history of popular music (especially with the rise of singer songwriters more recently) many of these people have somehow got their music out of the bedrooms and into society, for better or worse. Keaton Henson falls somewhere between the Elliot Smiths of this genre and one of the many drab and unoriginal Bob Dylan wanna-be’s.
However there is a certain charm about “Dear” that helps retain the attention of the listener – the bedroom DIY style is indeed well used, though each “bedroom” is different and therefore each artist recording in this style has different aspects to the production. For example, Henson lives under a Heathrow flight path, hence airplane noises at the end of some tracks and these little nuances definitely add more of a personality to the recording. Henson’s guitar style in “Dear” is good, not brilliant, though maybe this is because with lo-fi production you sacrifice the ability to hear some of the more subtle guitar parts, however what I think makes this stand out from the numerous other singer songwriters who are romantically challenged is the dynamic between imperfect production and imperfect guitars all held together by quivering vocals; there is definite feeling in these songs.
The dark romance around the majority of the album really emphasises the more positively strung tracks, such as my personal highlights “Sarah Minor” and new single “Small Hands”. Henson’s albums is stark, often beautiful, quirky and endearingly imperfect, perhaps a reflection of the relationship he seeks to amend. Although nothing original, it is a new contribution to a style that is forever growing and is definitely worth a listen (especially if like Henson you are longing for the one that got away, that week at least!), for fans of Mumford and sons, Damien Rice and Jolie Holland.