Keaton Henson shares details of ninth album, Parader

“Insomnia” expands further on a new direction, entwining aching self-observation with a defiance Keaton Henson terms “musical snark”. The single is accompanied by a stunning animated stop motion video made by Henson himself which reflects the frustration and surrealism that comes with those long nights.

“I’ll be singing about the fact that I can't sleep from my bedroom in West Sussex, looking out over the fields, but then there's a 7-Eleven in the middle of the field,” he explains, recalling insomnia-induced night walks around Los Angeles.

Whereas that last single nodded to Henson beginning to shed the “quiet boy” persona that has defined much of his career – if we’re to omit his myriad efforts composing for film and theatre, an electronic side project, his classical offerings, his illustration and writing work – the new album sees him fully embracing the grunge-infused sounds of his youth. “I was nervous about being too loud, but then it sort of just came out,” Henson explains.

Speaking of the aching exasperation recurring throughout Parader, Henson notes, “there’s a lot of frustration in the record at not having conquered life.” However, Parader has legitimate confidence. “It’s not me pretending to be anything I’m not,” Henson explains. “It’s maybe just me accepting that part of me is this. It's louder and it has those bigger, louder, rasher sounds, but not from a performative point of view. Maybe I'm accepting that that is a part of me as well.”

Tracklist:

1. Don’t I Just
2. Insomnia
3. Lazy Magician (feat. Julia Steiner)
4. Past It
5. Conversation Coach
6. Furl (feat. Danielle Fricke)
7. Loose Ends
8. Operator
9. Tell Me So
10. Tourniquet
11. Day In New York
12. Performer