Beth Jeans Houghton (a.k.a. Du Blonde) (born 3 January 1990) is an English multi-disciplinary musician, composer, artist, animator and video director. Their influences range from

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

, punk,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, 1960s

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

. They create art under their birth name, Beth Jeans Houghton, using photography, illustration, animation, video, sculpture and embroidery. They have directed and animated music videos for multiple artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ezra Furman, and Laura Marling's band LUMP. They write, perform and produce music under the name Du Blonde.

Biography

Beth Jeans Houghton was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Houghton started writing songs in their teens. At sixteen they left school and bought a Fender Stratocaster, which they taught themselves to play. Houghton first appeared in front of an audience in 2006; their debut release, titled ''EP'' (a limited-edition 7-inch), was on Bird Records in 2008. They signed then with Static Caravan Recordings, which released the single "Golden"/"Nightswimmer", produced by

Adem Adem ( ota, آدم, ) corresponding to Adam (see also Adam in Islam), is a masculine given name common in Turkey and Bosnia. Given name * Adem Alkaşi (born 1984), Turkish footballer *Adem Asil (born 1999), Turkish gymnast *Adem Bereket (bor ...

, and their second EP, ''Hot Toast, Vol. 1'' (produced by Mike Lindsay of the band

Tunng Tunng are an English folk music band. They are often associated with the folktronica genre, due to the electronic influences evident in some of their work. Tunng are often noted for their use of unconventional instruments, including seashells a ...

), both of which earned acclaim from the UK press. Houghton signed in early 2011 with

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

, releasing their debut long-player, ''

Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose ''Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose'' is the debut studio album by Beth Jeans Houghton recorded with the Hooves of Destiny and released in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2012 (on 28 February 2012 in the United States), by Mute Records. The album wa ...

'' in early 2012. The album was recorded with

Ben Hillier Ben Hillier is an English songwriter and pop-rock record producer who is part of the creative team 140 dB. He produced the notable albums ''Playing the Angel'', ''Sounds of the Universe'' and ''Delta Machine'' by Depeche Mode, ''Think Tank' ...

whose previous production credits include Blur,

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

and Elbow. ''Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose'' by Beth Jeans Houghton and the Hooves of Destiny was released on 6 February 2012, and reached number 83 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. Houghton and the Hooves of Destiny toured the UK and Europe extensively during 2011 and 2012, appearing at multiple festivals including

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

, The Great Escape,

Latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

and Bestival. In April 2012, the band performed on '' Later... with Jools Holland'' alongside Paul Weller and

Willis Earl Beal Willis Earl Beal (also known as Nobody) is an artist and musician. Early years Willis Earl Beal was born on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. In his early twenties Beal joined the U.S. Army, moving to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Beal was m ...

. After touring supporting ''

Welcome Back To Milk ''Welcome Back To Milk '' is the second studio album by Beth Jeans Houghton and the first for her as Du Blonde, to be released in the United Kingdom on 18 May 2015 (and on May 19 in the United States), by Mute Records. The album was written, compo ...

'', Houghton began work on issue 1 of their comic books series 'Butt Hurt', focusing on bringing to life their vivid dreams and uncomfortable social situations. Having been a lifelong sufferer of anxiety, Houghton's work often touches upon discomfort, using humour to help ease their symptoms and dispel stigma surrounding mental health. During November 2016, Houghton directed and illustrated the animated music video for "

Sick Love "Sick Love" is the third single from '' The Getaway'', an album by the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Elton John performs on the song which was also co-written by John and longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin. Background According to J ...

" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Houghton had previously dated the band's singer

Anthony Kiedis Anthony Kiedis ( ; born November 1, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is a founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fa ...

. The video was released on 4 December 2016. On 27 March 2018, Houghton's music video for

Ezra Furman Ezra Furman (born September 5, 1986) is an American musician and songwriter. Furman was the lead singer and guitarist of Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, formed in 2006, which ended with ''Mysterious Power'' (2011). Her subsequent work has include ...

's "Suck The Blood From My Wound" was released via the Bella Union label. Houghton directed, illustrated and animated the clip. On 20 November 2018, LUMP released the video for their single "May I Be The Light", also directed, illustrated and animated by Houghton.

Du Blonde

During 2014, Houghton began writing and recording music under the name Du Blonde. ''

'', the debut album for Houghton as Du Blonde, recorded in London and Los Angeles with producer

Jim Sclavunos James Sclavunos is an American drummer, multi-instrumentalist musician, record producer, and writer. He is best known as a drummer, having been a member of two seminal no wave groups in the late 1970s ( Teenage Jesus & the Jerks and 8 Eyed Spy, ...

, was released on 19 May 2015 by

. It garnered favourable reviews, with 75/100 rating at

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. Du Blonde's second album, '' Lung Bread for Daddy'', was released on 22 February 2019 via Moshi Moshi. The album is the first to be produced by Houghton, taking a journey into relationships and mental health of the musician. Du Blonde's third album, titled ''Homecoming'', was released in early 2021. The album, self-produced by Houghton, will feature guest artists including

Shirley Manson Shirley Ann Manson (born 26 August 1966) is a Scottish musician and actress. She is best known as the lead singer of the American alternative rock band Garbage. Manson gained media attention for her forthright style, rebellious attitude, and di ...

, Andy Bell,

, and members of

. Lead single "Medicated", featuring Manson, was released in November 2020, and follow-up "I'm Glad That We Broke Up", with Furman, came out on 4 February 2021.

Personal life

In 2013, Houghton suffered from anxiety. Of their practice of

Transcendental Meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...

, begun at this time, they said, "To now know confidently I can deal with my anxiety is such a good place to be." Houghton is non-binary and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

Artists supported

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, ''For Emma, Forever Ago,'' independently in July 2007. The majority of the album was recorded while Vernon ...

* Bowerbirds *

Cornershop Cornershop are a British indie rock band best known for their single "Brimful of Asha", originally released in 1997 and, in a remixed version, topping the UK chart in 1998. The band was formed in 1991 by Wolverhampton-born Tjinder Singh (singe ...

Euros Childs Euros Childs (; Welsh: ; born 16 April 1975) is a Welsh musician and songwriter, perhaps best known as the frontman for the band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and—as of January 2019—the keyboardist for Teenage Fanclub. His sister, violinist Megan Ch ...

* Fionn Regan * Future Islands *

Garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...

* Imogen Heap *

King Creosote Kenny Anderson (born January 1967), known primarily by his stage name King Creosote, is an independent singer-songwriter from Fife, Scotland. To date, Anderson has released over forty albums, with his latest full length, '' Astronaut Meets Apple ...

* Mumford & Sons *

Mystery Jets Mystery Jets are an English indie rock band, formerly based on Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, London. The band consists of Blaine Harrison (vocals, guitar and keyboards), Jack Flanagan (bass and vocals), Kapil Trivedi (drums) and Henry Harriso ...

* Phosphorescent * Red Hot Chili Peppers *

Scott Matthews Scott Matthews is an English singer-songwriter from Wolverhampton, England.

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

Stephen Fretwell Stephen Fretwell (born 10 November 1981) is an English singer-songwriter. Biography Fretwell attended St. Augustine Webster Primary School in Scunthorpe and St. Bede's Catholic School in Ashby before furthering his study at John Leggott Colleg ...

Tinariwen Tinariwen (Tamasheq: , with vowels , pronounced ''tinariwen'' "deserts", plural of ''ténéré'' "desert") is a collective of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. Considered a pioneer of desert blues, the group's guita ...

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (2012) no. 83 UK *''

Welcome Back to Milk ''Welcome Back To Milk '' is the second studio album by Beth Jeans Houghton and the first for her as Du Blonde, to be released in the United Kingdom on 18 May 2015 (and on May 19 in the United States), by Mute Records. The album was written, compo ...

'' (2015, as Du Blonde) *'' Lung Bread for Daddy'' (2019, as Du Blonde) *''Homecoming'' (2021, as Du Blonde)

EPs

*''EP'' – June 2008 *''Hot Toast Vol 1'' – September 2009

Singles

*"Golden / Nightswimmer" – Static Caravan, 2009 *"Dodecahedron" – Mute, 2011 *"Sweet Tooth Bird" – Mute, 2012 *"Atlas" – Mute, 2012

References

External links

du blonde website {{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, Beth Jeans 1990 births Living people Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne Mute Records artists British folk-pop singers 21st-century English singers Non-binary musicians English LGBT musicians British LGBT singers LGBT animators Transgender singers Transgender non-binary people 21st-century LGBT people