Keaton Henson – Birthdays

Will inspire obsessive fandom...

Lauded by the tastemakers for his rough and ready self-produced debut ‘Dear…’, chronically shy, desperately fragile and brutally honest singer-songwriter Henson takes a different approach for album number two. American indie producer Joe Chiccarelli assumes the controls and several tracks benefit from more complex arrangements, not least the relatively (in this company, anyway) visceral ‘Kronos’, which is perhaps the album’s finest moment. It succeeds by necessitating a more forceful vocal atop blaring guitars, avoiding the niggling wobbling warble that loiters in so many of these songs. It will inspire obsessive fandom and moisten a few eyes, but Henson’s voice is something of an acquired taste.

6/10

Words by GARETH JAMES

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