Beth Jeans Houghton

A vibrantly creative musician, composer, animator, and video director, Beth Jeans Houghton is an artist whose work became more revealing as she became more autonomous. Under her given name, she mixed acoustic guitar with samples, keyboards, and glam rock for a version of anti-folk that was more fantastical than down to earth; on 2012's Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose, she grounded her flights of fancy with silvery vocals and empathetic songwriting. Houghton took her skill at immersing listeners in her world in a very different direction as Du Blonde, matching the heavy sounds of punk, blues, garage rock, and soul with cathartic songs on albums including 2019's self-produced Lung Bread for Daddy. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Houghton began writing and performing while still in her teens. A self-taught guitarist, she first appeared in front of an audience in 2006, ultimately sharing the stage with artists including Imogen Heap, St. Vincent, and Euros Childs. That year, Bird Records issued her self-titled debut single as a limited-edition 7". The following year, she signed to Static Caravan Recordings, who released the single Golden/Nightswimmer and her second EP, Hot Toast, Vol. 1, which was produced by Tuung's Mike Lindsay. Despite the acclaim these releases earned, little more was heard from Houghton until 2011, when it was revealed that she had relocated to Los Angeles and signed to Mute Records. Featuring production by Ben Hillier and recorded with her band the Hooves of Destiny, Houghton's debut album, Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose, ranged from ethereal folk-pop to more freewheeling tracks; upon its February 2012 release, it hit number 83 on the U.K. Albums Chart. That November, she and the Hooves of Destiny began work on their second album, but Houghton scrapped the album after the initial sessions. Following a bout with severe anxiety, in she spent much of 2013 traveling the United States. Her trip to the Pacific Coast with Future Islands' Samuel T. Herring resulted in several songs that became the basis of her new musical incarnation, the swaggering rock of Du Blonde. Working with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds drummer Jim Sclavunos as producer, she recorded Du Blonde's first album, Welcome Back to Milk, in London and Los Angeles. Featuring the Herring collaboration "Mind Is on My Mind," the album appeared in May 2015. Following the tour for the album, Houghton embarked on several projects that included her comic book series Butt Hurt and directing and animating music videos for artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ezra Furman, and LUMP. After seeking help for her lifelong issues with anxiety and depression in early 2018, she began work on the second Du Blonde album. Recording in London and Oakland, California, Houghton took on production duties and played most of the instruments, working with bassist Jorgen Jorgenson Briggs and drummer Sam Durkes to round out the album's sound. The unflinching results, Lung Bread for Daddy, arrived on Moshi Moshi in February 2019.
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