Keaton Henson Monument [CD]

Play It Again Sam

£10.80

Format: CD
Catalogue No.: PIASR1195CD
Barcode: 5400863033811
Release Date: 23rd October 2020
Genre: Experimental/Electronic

 Keaton Henson’s new album ‘Monument’ is a rare thing. It is an album about loss and dealing with losing the ones we love but told in incredibly candid detail through the aspects of our lives that surround the trauma itself, about love, ageing, recovery, life, seen through the prism of grief.
 It is an album, in essence, about death but in exploring that theme, becomes an album about life. It is singular in its vulnerability and an unmistakeable artistic arrival for Keaton. With songs that are clearly speaking intimately from personal experience but with an eloquence and artfulness that make it feel universal. An astonishing record by a singular talent.
 Having spent three years writing a complex and exhausting but thoroughly satisfying symphony (‘Six Lethargies’) which was both released and performed live last year, Keaton took a step back into the shadows to write. Stripping everything away, he has inadvertently returned to many of the sounds and beautiful simplicity of his first album (2012’s ‘Dear’).
 ‘Prayer’, the album’s vulnerable centrepiece, arrives in two distinct parts; firstly, there’s the preparation for loss that, in truth, will never truly prepare you at all and
then the orchestral second half, a final goodbye to his father.
 “‘Prayer’ is a meditation on the act of preparing to lose someone, in whatever form that takes. It’s about the feeling of helplessness, and the realisation that there are no words you can say to someone before they leave that will make it less painful when they do, as much as we feel like there must be. The orchestral section is a more personal statement; I didn’t know what to say to my dad before he left and I don’t really know what to say now, so it is, for once in the record, just simply goodbye.” - Keaton Henson
 “Henson’s gorgeous vocal accompanies a sparse piano for a heartbreaking special.
Charged with grief and loss, the stunning ballad makes for a soothing but
devastating listen.” - Gigwise (on ‘Prayer’)
 “It’s a beautiful song” - Brooklyn Vegan (on ‘Career Day’)
 “The intimate, almost ghostly recording features Keaton solo; a lullabic vocal hanging over intricately plucked guitar. It’s a beautifully moving and understated reintroduction to this very singular talent.” - Total NTertainment (on ‘Career Day’)
 “The way Keaton Henson conveys and shares his feelings with his listeners is truly phenomenal.” - Dansendeberen
 CD includes foldout poster. Double LP pressed on white vinyl in a gatefold reverse board sleeve.
 Press - Reviews & features in NME, Line of Best Fit, DORK, Clash, Gigwise, Thank Folk For That, Scientists of Sound, Spectral Nights, Ascendant Music, Total NTertainment, Music News In The Cloud, Dod, Popstar.one, Zubb, Best In New Music, Backseat Mafia, Frontview, The Telegraph, Rolling Stone, GoldflakePaint.
 Online - Blogotheque Stay Home Session.

Tracklisting:
Ambulance
Self Portrait
Ontario
Career Day
Prayer
While I Can
Bed
The Grand Old Reason
Husk
Thesis
Bygones