Keaton Henson premieres video for new single‘No Witnesses’

Keaton Henson has premiered a stunning short film for new track ‘No Witnesses’ (dir. Will Williamson), which is taken from his critically-acclaimed, third official studio album ‘Kindly Now’ (out now via Play it Again Sam). Having sold out the Roundhouse earlier this year, Keaton has also confirmed plans for his biggest European headline shows to date, including a sold-out show at London’s Palladium on November 18th.

Ambitious, bold and ambiguous, ‘No Witnesses’ captures a single moment after the fact. Shot in an undisclosed desert location - in limited time and on no sleep - it’s bigger in scale yet also Keaton’s most unguarded moment yet: a comment, perhaps, on the unflinching gaze of the audience, the microscopic events which take place after the momentous ones, or moving on from disaster generally. ‘No Witnesses’ is perhaps the integral moment on ‘Kindly Now’, a record which seems to both obscure and reveal, exploring the tension between things: from the traditional piano-led balladeering of Tom Waits and Randy Newman on one hand, to the experimental electronic sounds and tempestuous on the other; and from quiet, interior portraits to a busy, unbalanced landscape.

‘Kindly Now’ continues an extraordinary journey for Keaton Henson, who quietly released his limited edition, hand-made debut album ‘Dear...’ in 2012, before a surprise Zane Lowe play led to a flurry of investigation into Henson’s identity and whereabouts. Despite choosing not to perform or promote his record in a conventional manner, his heavier second album ‘Birthdays’ saw Keaton make an astonishing return to the live arena: from playing one-on-one for fans, to cinemas, museums and churches internationally. Whilst beginning to write songs for ‘Kindly Now’, Keaton pushed himself in two extreme directions: first, he taught himself the art of orchestration and arrangement, and surprise-released the critically acclaimed collection of bedroom-classical music, ‘Romantic Works’, on the same day as his immediately-sold-out date at London’s Meltdown Festival (at the request of James Lavelle). Then, Henson pushed the more electronic textures of some of his new songs into ‘Behaving’, his first album of wholly-electronic music (also staging a DIY, immersive production of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for two-sold out nights at Oval Space, in association with The Barbican).

On top of his work as a worldwide-exhibited visual artist, Keaton has recently released his first poetry collection (‘Idiot Verse’) and scored the forthcoming Balletboyz’ feature-length World-War-One epic ‘Young Men’ in conjunction with the BBC (originally performed at Sadler’s Wells, and resulting in Keaton conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra). This has all – one way or another – fed into ‘Kindly Now’: an unheroic and unsettling examination of past loves, the role of the artist, and owning up to your own destruction.

KEATON HENSON premieres video for new single‘No Witnesses’ Watch HERE

Third album – ‘Kindly Now’ – out now via Play It Again Sam

Praise for ‘Kindly Now’

• “Seductive...time seems to stand still in the face of Keaton” Mojo **** Album of the Week
• “A devastating confessional of potent beauty” Irish Times ****
• “A haunting soundscape...Keaton Henson has a way to make pain sound beautiful” Dork ****
• “Heartstring-tugging...Kindly Now is the soundtrack you want if you’re happy being sad” Loud & Quiet
• “Highly effective...wonderfully poignant” Uncut