{"id":199937,"date":"2023-06-09T18:36:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T17:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whynow.co.uk\/?post_type=read&p=199937"},"modified":"2023-06-09T18:36:18","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T17:36:18","slug":"house-party-keaton-henson-review","status":"publish","type":"read","link":"https:\/\/whynow.co.uk\/read\/house-party-keaton-henson-review","title":{"rendered":"House Party review | Keaton Henson shakes off the sadboy image"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/h2>\n

Keaton Henson starts to have a bit of fun on his most effective album yet, <\/b>House Party<\/i><\/b>, writes Lucy Harbron.<\/b><\/p>\n

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You think you know what you\u2019re getting when it comes to Keaton Henson. Booming to cult fame back in 2012 with his debut album <\/span>Dear, <\/span><\/i>the musician could essentially be crowned the king of sad boys, gaining notoriety as his dark, poetic lyrics littered Tumblr.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rarely performing live due to crippling anxiety, his mental health made him a mystery. It became the thing fans seemed to be obsessed with, as early albums <\/span>Dear<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Birthdays<\/span><\/i> contained some of the most devastating lyrics ever penned (see \u2018Party Song\u2019 or \u2018Sweetheart, What Have You Done To Us?\u2019).<\/span><\/p>\n

And while the world seemed to find poetry in the tortured artist\u2019s plight, Keaton found what we all find in mental illness: life-stunting devastation. Running away from his own career in L.A. as <\/span>Birthdays<\/span><\/i> raised him to new levels of success, hiding from his manager, he\u2019s since proceeded to take a million twists and turns into film scores, orchestral composition, performance art pieces and several attempts at retiring, with 2017 track \u2018Epilogue\u2019 really seeming at the time to be his final goodbye. But there\u2019s one thing everyone always thinks they can expect from Keaton: sadness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"House<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t to say that his latest album <\/span>House Party<\/span><\/i> isn\u2019t sad; there are some devastating moments. But it\u2019s purposefully different. Introduced as a somewhat concept album, focussing on a parallel version of Keaton \u2013 or an alter-ego that didn\u2019t run from fame but raced towards it \u2013 <\/span>House Party<\/span><\/i> comes at the same internal conflict from an entirely different direction. And as opening track \u2018I\u2019m Not There\u2019 throws you straight into the album with a classic rock, almost country-tinged track, that feels custom-made for a cheesy, 90s chick flick; fans that demand Keaton stay stuck in his own sadness will be thrown off his trail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what\u2019s so beautiful about this album. Tracks like \u2018Envy\u2019 and \u2018The Meeting Place\u2019 especially see Keaton really going for it. He\u2019s singing louder than he has, playing guitar like a teenage boy in a garage, making toe-tapping, body-swaying songs that shake off the stifling sadness of <\/span>Dear<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through this alter-ego, you can instantly feel a sense of freedom. Playing around with bigger sounds, introducing a full rock band to the album that we\u2019ve never really heard on a Keaton Henson record before, letting himself create catchy tunes and fun melodies that welcome crowd reaction, it\u2019s no wonder this album is also bringing about <\/span>Keaton\u2019s first live shows in years<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n