Keaton Henson’s upcoming album Parader marks a daring sonic shift, mixing introspective lyricism with the grunge-tinged textures of his youth. With manufacturing assist from Luke Sital-Singh and Alex Farrar, the file explores themes of growing older, id, and emotional transparency by means of a lens each nostalgic and defiant. The discharge of “Previous It” and “Free Ends” presents a compelling preview of the duality that defines the album’s emotional and musical core.
In accordance with a press launch from Keaton Henson’s administration, “Previous It” and “Free Ends” The tracks would be the final to return forward of the albums launch on 21st Nov by way of Play It Once more Sam.
Parader marks Henson’s ninth studio album and his first since 2024’s Somnambulant Cycles. It additionally follows his current return single “Lazy Magician” (co-written by Ratboys’ Julia Steiner), which was launched in July, incomes assist from the likes of Rolling Stone UK, Crack, The Line Of Finest Match, The New Cue, Stereogum, Beneath The Radar, and GoldFlakePaint, who mentioned it hinted “at a daring new chapter on the horizon; a stressed and romantic re-defining.”
Whereas that single nodded to Henson starting to shed the “quiet boy” persona that has outlined a lot of his profession – if we’re to omit his myriad efforts composing for movie and theatre, an digital facet undertaking, his classical choices, his illustration and writing work – the brand new album sees him absolutely embracing the grunge-infused sounds of his youth. This was expanded upon along with his final single “Insomnia”, which was introduced alongside the brand new album and noticed Henson entwining aching self-observation with a defiance he phrases as “musical snark”.
Right this moment’s new songs “Previous It” and “Free Ends” seize the 2 ends of Henson’s journey each personally and musically throughout the forthcoming file. The primary, a nostalgia-soaked analysis of his profession as a musician, is delivered by means of a crackling, lo-fi hum paying homage to Christian Lee Hutson or Phoebe Bridgers. Whereas awash with self-doubt, the self-reflective daydream is permeated by an understanding of his personal wants. “This one’s a bit meta,” says Henson. “It’s me taking a look at ageing and rising older as a musician. But in addition reflecting on the entire concept of a 37-year-old man singing the sorts of songs I sing, particularly the best way I’m on this album. Generally you possibly can catch your reflection whereas writing songs and I’ve these ideas, often ending with questioning if anybody will even hear it.”
The latter of the 2 tracks “Free Ends”, sees him as soon as once more revisiting that musical snark from the final single, carrying a American garage-rock undercurrent within the lurking distortion and its combative rhythm, the taunting cry of “Oh me, oh my” bears an argumentative edge in its sardonic darkish tone. “It’s referential of music from my youth,” continues Henson. “The form of early 2000s rock bands from America. It’s fairly sarcastic. It’s about feeling such as you’re guilting somebody into staying with you. It’s fairly snarky, self-loathing and darkish, possibly contrasting the enjoyable of the music”.
WATCH/SHARE THE LYRIC VIDEO FOR “PAST IT”:
These acquainted with Henson’s work will certainly be acquainted with his well-worn fame as a softly spoken, introverted determine who hardly ever performs stay – in a 15-year profession he’s carried out lower than 40 instances. Since rising along with his debut file Pricey… in 2010, Henson has garnered essential approval for his mastery at weaving heart-on-sleeve vulnerability into emotionally poignant, folk-tinged outpourings. No stranger to nervousness’s heavy weight, he’s earned a loyal fan base from a self-imposed distance – shying from the highlight to supply up the finite a part of himself he’s prepared to offer away. “Unhappiness I suppose” he as soon as confessed, “is a sense of which I’ve an extra of.”
What unravels throughout Parader’s 12 tracks is an introspective post-mortem of time because it distorts and folds to change and inhabit the songwriter’s current. “There are these disjointed snapshots,” he explains, “reminiscences throughout time popping up amongst this assortment of ideas about what it feels wish to be this age and a musician.”
These glimpses of Henson’s previous, whether or not channelled in his lyrics or musically uncovered in sneering riffs, would possibly begin to defy preconceptions of our reclusive balladeer. In a nod to his tender tone, Henson’s oft-met comparability to Elliott Smith, whereas The Impartial as soon as dubbed him the “British Jeff Buckley”, however, just like the aforementioned pair, his early beginnings additionally took root in far heavier sounds. “Previous to being a largely quiet musician I performed in hardcore and emo bands,” he shares. It’s these snapshots of time that run amok on Parader, nostalgic distortions splintering the timeline’s once-linear path.
To piece Parader collectively, Henson collaborated with a wealth of expertise who might harness these influences and produce them into the sunshine. Manufacturing duties had been break up between Luke Sital-Singh, who Henson quickly found “grew up in an identical space at an identical time, so our reference factors had been the identical,” and Alex Farrar (Wednesday/Snail Mail): “the king of that loud, snarky American DIY sound.” The intimately tender “Furl” additionally discovered a first-time co-writer in his spouse, artist and musician Danielle Fricke, whereas Henson labored with Ratboys’ Julia Steiner on the sooner talked about “Lazy Magician” A downtrodden duet that unfolds like a haunting daydream earlier than winding guitars soar, Henson explains: “Julia’s voice is so evocative of that sound to me, it jogs my memory of once I first heard Rilo Kiley. She has loads of the suburban magic-realism of the American bands I beloved again then.”
From early days in London and his profession as a visible artist – illustrating for the likes of Enter Shikari, Dananananaykroyd, and Oli Sykes’ Drop Useless – to the overwhelm of musical renown and his retreat from LA, to the right here and now; 37 years previous, married, chopping wooden within the quietude of his countryside house, there’s a wealth of life expertise for Henson to attract from. But on this second, he comes considerably full circle with apparitions of a younger Keaton loitering outdoors the native skate store, an adolescent catching American punk bands within the suburbs of London. “It’s positively pulling from the issues I listened to once I was a younger, however they’re being spat out by means of the lens of me and my profession now. The album is sort of a bizarre ‘me’ model of that stuff musically.”
Beneath the burden of this poignant introspection, it’s laborious to disregard that Henson’s ruminations additionally harbor traces of earned expertise. Of the aching exasperation recurring all through Parader, Henson notes, “there’s loads of frustration within the file at not having conquered life, or my typically mutinous mind” And but, it’s this honesty, earnestly dispatched by means of heartwrenching outpourings, that make the file really feel quintessentially Keaton Henson. Nonetheless, Parader has authentic confidence. “It’s not me pretending to be something I’m not,” Henson explains. “I feel it’s simply me accepting that a part of me is this. It’s louder and brasher, however not from a performative perspective. Possibly I’m simply accepting that that’s all a part of me as nicely.”
Because the file closes out, closing monitor “Performer” brings us full circle to the query of the album’s title – the 2 intrinsically linked. As he sings, “I’ll present my scars to you irrespective of who you might be,” Henson acknowledges the emotional pains of being a musician within the public eye, with the relentless march of time a grudging ally in delivering his tales: “I’m the parader. The one that parades round exhibiting their wounds for a dwelling.”
PARADER IS OUT 21ST NOVEMBER VIA PLAY IT AGAIN SAM – PRE-ORDER:
As Parader nears its launch, “Previous It” and “Free Ends” supply followers a putting preview of Keaton Henson’s evolving sound—one which embraces vulnerability, grit, and a newfound sonic boldness. Whether or not you’ve adopted his journey from the hushed intimacy of Pricey… or are simply discovering his layered world, these newest singles mark a compelling entry level. With the total album arriving November 21, now’s the time for followers previous and new to tune in and witness Henson’s most unflinching chapter but.
Tracklisting:
1) Don’t I Simply
2) Insomnia
3) Lazy Magician (ft. Julia Steiner)
4) Previous It
5) Dialog Coach
6) Furl (ft. Danielle Fricke)
7) Free Ends
8) Operator
9) Inform Me So
10) Tourniquet
11) Day In New York
12) Performer