Keaton Henson – Kindly Now
The quiet man of Brit-folk’s third album proper.
THE SLEEVE IS HENSON'S impressionistic self-portrait, with red-raw skeletal hands and a pink mass for a head: it screams ‘despair’, even ‘help’. Reclusive, crippled by anxiety since childhood, Henson’s trembling voice often betrays him, yet his music is paradoxically calm, his guitar filigrees flickering like embers, the piano and orchestral lulls gossamer. Still, he likes to throw an occasional hot coal into your lap, such as The Pugilist’s angry strings, and Comfortable Love’s rock torrent, somewhat Jeff Buckley-esque. Yet the naked, tearful Alright and Good Lust cut the deepest, when time seems to stand still in the face of Keaton’s suffering. Holy Lover’s Afro-gospel vocalese and hook (“Please don’t be afraid / I think I love you”) touchingly aims for happiness, but it’s unconvincing; the overriding impression – of a man battling to leave his cocoon of home to record these epic struggles and play them live – is just too seductive. Watch the video for Alright...
Stream Kindly Now here...